


Legacy

by padfootandprongsy



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-10-04 07:33:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10271519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/padfootandprongsy/pseuds/padfootandprongsy
Summary: Malec Hogwarts AUHogwarts is known as a great school, but when the Lightwoods lives are uprooted by their move to England and half of the student body hate their family, it can be a little hard to fit in.A story about Ministry politics, family, friendship, and of course, budding romance.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I wrote for my friend as a gift - 12 chapters for 12 days of having to do gross adult stuff. As such it's filled with cheesy cliches, but I liked how the story turned out in the end. Maybe you will too!

Alec Lightwood stood on his mother's right side. He was wearing long, formal dress robes that their house elf had pressed to perfection that morning, and the stiff collar was digging uncomfortably into his neck. He reached up to undo the top button of his shirt, but a sudden bright camera flash caused him to think better of it. He glared at the photographer who, of course, payed him no attention.

They were in a high ceilinged meeting room at the Magical Congress of the United States of America, and the press gathered around them had eyes only for Maryse and Robert, who were addressing the crowd from behind a podium.

"Why are you choosing to step down now?" One witch asked curiously, her red, glittering quill waiting eagerly by her side to transcribe the response. "You're both known for some quite controversial policies after all. Do you stand by them?"

"We stand by all the choices we've made in our time here," Robert answered, and Alec heard his sister, Isabelle, huff in annoyance beside him.

After deeming all of her clothes inappropriate that morning, their mother had forced Izzy into one of her own formal dresses, and she was standing stiffly by Alec's side with one hand protectively placed on the shoulder of their younger brother, Max.

"Our decision to leave is not based on politics," Maryse continued, "this is about our family." She glanced at Alec, and feeling the pressure of her gaze, he attempted to force a smile.

"We want our children to experience everything the world has to offer," she told the reporters. "We know they'll be very happy to attend Hogwarts come September, and we're lucky enough to have jobs lined up at the British Ministry of Magic. Our dedication to what we believe is best for our people - the Wizarding community," she cleared her throat briefly, "hasn't changed."

"Do you plan to challenge British laws on magical beasts?" One wizard asked, and Alec felt his stomach tighten. This was what their parents were known for within Congress - laws that harmed witches and wizards unfortunate enough to be different. Half breeds, as much of the American media called them.

"What is your stance on the judicial system of the UK?" Asked another reporter. "Surely the Wizengamot..."

"We won't be taking any more questions," Robert interrupted, straightening his tie. He hesitated, looking to his wife, who nodded firmly.

"Thank you for your time."

In a whirlwind of commotion in which several journalists tried to push towards them, Alec was ushered forwards, through the crowd who took several more pictures and shouted questions into his ear as he passed. They soon broke through into a private corridor where the reporters couldn't follow, and in silence the five of them turned into the nearest room with a connection to the floo network. Green powder was passed around and, as though they'd practiced the whole procedure a hundred times, they

stepped through the fireplace one by one, each thinking of the place that they wouldn't be able to call home for much longer.

* * *

 

"You're unbelievable!" Isabelle exploded as soon as she stepped out of the fireplace.

Their living room was packed not with the expensive furniture that Alec was used to, but with magically sealed boxes of their belongings, ready to be taken by portkey to their new house in only a few short hours.

"Isabelle please," their mother replied, holding up a hand to her daughter. "Not now."

"I can't believe you're doing this to us. To Max. Do you really think that running away to England is going to make anything better?"

"Yes!" Maryse snapped, glaring at Izzy furiously. "We are your parents and that is exactly what we think. We're trying to protect you - all of you."

"Izzy - " Alec said, trying to stop his sister. She was upset, but they were all upset. It was a huge change, and Alec wasn't sure it was for the best either. But there was nothing that could be done now.

"You're trying to protect yourselves!"

"Isabelle." Robert said sternly.

"Fine, whatever," Izzy shouted. She bent down to tug the heels - also her mothers - off her feet, and threw them harshly onto the polished wooden floor, then she pulled her long black hair down out of the bun it had been meticulously forced into that morning. "I'm going to bed." She said, though it wasn't even 5'o'clock yet. "Unless you've already packed the damn mattresses too."

They watched her storm out of the room, and listened to her heavy footfalls on the bare staircase as she headed to her room.

"I'll talk to her," Alec said into the silence. "She's just - it'll be okay."

His parents didn't reply. They seemed content to stare around the empty room, and when Alec glanced at Max, he found him looking down at the floor, tugging uncomfortable on the corners of his sleeves. He looked unbelievably out of place, in dress robes still a little too big for him. The only time Alec has seen his little brother in such formal clothes was when they'd been dressed for a funeral; the thought was an unpleasant one.

For a moment, he wished Jace was with them. Jace always seemed able to cheer Max up with his stupid jokes and certainty that things would work out in the end. Alec found it a little harder; couldn't quite quell his own worry enough for his brother not to realise that something was wrong; didn't quite have the easy smile and encouraging words that seemed to come so naturally to Jace. But Jace wasn't there, he reminded himself, trying to push away the pang of resentment that came with the knowledge that his best friend and adoptive brother wouldn't be joining them on the move to England. No, he was off playing professional quidditch for New York, largely unaffected by everything that had happened in the last month or so.

At least it seemed that way.

"Hey Bud," Alec said, bending down in front of his little brother. "Don't look so worried, okay? You know how Izzy gets."

Max smiled weakly, and Alec could feel the eyes of his parents on him, wondering at how he could so easily get through to his brother when they couldn't.

"I don't want to go either," Max confessed, "I'm scared."

"I know," Alec said gently. "Me too. But hey, you're going to make so many new friends, okay? You're a first year, so you'll all be in the same boat. And me and Iz will be there to look out for you."

"Do you think we'll all be in the same house?" Max asked, his blue eyes wide and glossy. "I always wanted to be a Pukwudgie, like you."

"I hope so. From what I hear you're bound to be a Ravenclaw, since you're so smart. You'll be flying rings around me and Iz in no time."

"Shut up," Max laughed. "You're smart too."

"Maybe," Alec smiled. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah." Max said, "Thanks Alec," he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Alec's neck.

"No problem," Alec said, ruffling his hair. He felt immensely glad that he'd managed to say the right thing, that in some small way, he could help Max with what would undoubtedly be a tough few months. "You want to come and talk to Izzy with me?"

"No," Max said immediately, letting go of his brother. "I don't want to get in her way if she tries to jinx something."

"Good point," Alec said. "Well, wish me luck then."

* * *

 

As Max had suggested, Alec half expected to see his sister throwing things around the room when he entered, or casting hexes at the helpless wall opposite her bed.

Instead, he found her sat on the bed, bundled beneath a think blanket with a bottle of wine in one hand.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Don't you knock?" She responded, frowning at him.

"Oh," Alec said. "Of course." He deliberately took a step backwards and, keeping his eyes locked on Isabelle's, knocked loudly on the inside of the door.

"You're hilarious."

Alec pushed the door closed behind him and Izzy didn't protest when he sat down on the bed beside her.

"Want some?" She asked, offering him the bottle of wine. "They've packed an entire crate of vintage wines. Might as well see what all the fuss is about."

Alec almost said no. He didn't really have a lot of experience with alcohol, but he was tired, worried and maybe the wine would help.

He took the bottle and made a face when the acidic liquid hit the back of his throat. Then he took another swig before handing the bottle back to his sister.

"You're too young to drink," he reminded her.

"Touché big bro."

They sat in silence for a moment, Izzy sipping the bottle of wine and Alec searching for the words that might make everything seem alright.

"You don't have to say anything," she told him preemptively. "I know you want to fix things but... We just have to keep going, right? We can take care of Max at school and everything will be fine."

"Yeah," Alec agreed hesitantly, "I hope you're right."

* * *

 

"Where's the platform again Mr. Head Boy?" Magnus asked, walking backwards in front of Ragnor, a teasing grin plastered across his face.

"The same place it's been for the past seven years, I'd imagine."

"How witty of you, Head Boy."

"Oh, am I head boy? I'd forgotten." Ragnor rolled his eyes, and pulled Magnus out of the way of a passing muggle with an army of suitcases before he could trip himself up. "Watch where you're going, would you?"

"Oh yes, Mr. Head Boy, Sir." Magnus grinned, saluting Ragnor as they headed down the stairs at Kings Cross station, towards platform nine and three quarters. "I don't know how you managed to gain a position of such prestige while sporting that haircut," Magnus mused, reaching up to tug on Ragnor's hair, which stuck up at odd angles and was dyed a mossy green colour.

"The Professor's must just love you that much, my little cabbage."

"Do you ever stop talking?"

"You're the one who insists on inviting me over every summer," Magnus reminded him. "You must enjoy my constant company. It makes your dull, cabbagey life a little more bearable."

"Didn't you know?" Ragnor asked, feigning confusion. "Your social worker actually pays me to take you off her hands for the summer, you've made me a fortune over the years."

"And you didn't even offer me a cut?" Magnus asked. "I'm offended. That isn't the head boy way, Ragnor."

"What can I say, I'm a money grabber."

They were approaching the magical barrier that led to the platform and a number of younger students shot them nervous glances as they lugged their bags behind them. Magnus paused to momentarily poke a finger through the bars of Chairman Meow's carrier, but his cat was clearly unhappy at being shut away, and swiped grumpily at his hand.

"That animal is a menace," Ragnor said. "You go first then."

Ignoring the comment about the integrity of his beloved cat, Magnus turned to the barrier in between platforms.

"See you on the other side," he said, winking at Ragnor dramatically.

He approached the wall at a run, slipping easily through to the platform on the other side. The sight of it made him grin. He'd never tire of watching the young witches and wizards hurry across the platform, passing chocolate frog cards between themselves and cramming owl cages into the small train carriages. His attention was caught by a young girl a few feet away, who clung onto her mothers hand, clearly unwilling to part from her parents. Momentarily, a horrible sense of longing took root in Magnus' chest.

Then Ragnor was beside him, and the thought evaporated as soon as it had come.

"There's Catarina," he said, gesturing a little way down the platform, where a tall, dark skinned girl with cropped black hair was leaning against an embellished trunk. When she spotted them, a smile broke out across her face and she rushed towards them, embracing first Ragnor, then Magnus.

"I've just seen them," she said at once, speaking in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Who?" Ragnor asked, bewildered.

"The Lightwood's of course. Their parents aren't here but the girl looks just like her mother. They went off down there somewhere," she gestured to the other end of the platform, and although both Magnus and Ragnor turned to look, they couldn't make out anyone in the crush of people cramming onto the train.

"What did they look like?" Magnus asked.

"Pissed off," Catarina responded. "Probably think they're better than the rest of us since their family are practically famous."

"For the wrong reasons," Ragnor reminded them. "I hope they don't cause any trouble. I'm the one who's going to have to deal with it."

"Oh yeah, congratulations by the way," Catarina grinned. "You're both such goody-two-shoes."

"How dare you," Magnus gasped, as he and Ragnor helped her collect her things. "I use my job as a prefect only for sneaking around after dark."

"Liar," Catarina smirked. "Last year you gave me ten house points when I helped a first year with their books. You're too much of a Hufflepuff for your own good."

"I was trying to condition your good behaviour. You're my science experiment."

"You're an idiot."

They boarded the train, shoving their trunks into the luggage racks above their seats before settling down for the long journey to Hogwarts. Magnus let Chairman Meow out of his carrier, and he meowed in annoyance before settling down in the spare seat beside Catarina.

"How are you feeling about starting NEWT's?" Ragnor asked his friends, both of whom were entering their sixth year at Hogwarts.

"Terrible," Catarina said immediately.

"I hear they're nastily exhausting," Magnus agreed. "I prefer to be pleasantly unexhausted as a rule."

"You'll be fine," Ragnor laughed, "and you can have my notes from last year if you want."

"You are a fine man," Magnus told him. "The best Head Boy Hogwarts has ever seen."

"Because he encourages copying other people's work?" Catarina asked.

"Precisely."

* * *

 

Magnus always looked forward to the start of year feasts. During his first year at Hogwarts he had been constantly amazed at the never ending supply of food that the tables in the Great Hall were always laden with, and the novelty had never quite faded. The only downside was that Magnus couldn't sit with his friends, as they had to separate by house for the sorting.

He sat at the Hufflepuff table with the other prefects, waiting for the sorting to commence so that they could fulfill their tasks of enthusing about Hogwarts and making sure no one was about to have a breakdown of any kind. Last year, Magnus had got stuck with a boy who didn't stop crying for his first three days at school. This year, he hoped he got the more enthusiastic, and less tearful first years to look after.

Catarina caught his eye as she made her way to the Slytherin table and looked purposefully at two people a little further down the hall. Magnus caught a glimpse of a girl and boy walking close together, both with distinctive black hair and bright eyes. He didn't have much time to dwell on it however, before they sat down, separated from Magnus by the long table full of Ravenclaw's.

He smiled when he spotted Ragnor amongst them, several people clearly congratulating him on his new position as Head Boy.

Once everyone was settled down, the Headmistress got up to speak, and soon enough the first years were being escorted to the front of the hall. Magnus watched them with mild interest, cheering along with the rest of his house whenever one of them was announced as a Hufflepuff, then gesturing to where they should sit when they wandered over, dazed and wide eyed as first years tended to be every September.

Just over half of the group had been sorted when the name "Max Lightwood" was called. There was an immediate hush amongst the older students, who were far more aware of his family's notoriety in the US.

Max seemed largely unaware of the attention he'd drawn as the hat was lowered onto his head, though he did seemed startled. Someone had evidentially neglected to tell him that the sorting hat talked. It was only a few seconds of deliberation however, before the hat opened it's stitched mouth and purposefully bellowed "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The applause from the table was automatic, but Magnus caught a few people stopping short of their celebrations as Max, looking worried, made his way over to them.

It wasn't his fault, Magnus reminded himself repeatedly as he stood up to greet the boy. He couldn't do anything about his parents shitty politics. It was probably hard for him, only being eleven, to have them as his parents at all. Magnus, like most people, had seen the pictures of the Lightwood's in the papers over summer, and had heard of their reappointment to the Ministry of Magic. It had caused quite a backlash, given the fact that Maryse Lightwood was known for coming down harshly on wizards who were afflicted with conditions such as lycanthopy, were half giant, half veela, or half anything else. The Lightwood's and the political party they had belonged to in America were interested in a pure wizarding community. Not necessarily in the case of blood status - though having grown up in the muggle world, the idea still filled Magnus with anger - but in the sense that magical beasts were treated even more poorly than they had been in Britain, even before the Minister for Magic enacted laws to protect them.

"Hi," Magnus said to Max as he arrived at the table. "Do you want to sit here?"

Nodding cautiously, Max took the seat beside Magnus.

The sorting ceremony continued around them, and Magnus maintained his role as prefect, but he was watching Max carefully. The boy was tapping nervously at the edge of the table, and although he didn't look scared per say, he looked so on edge that Magnus was surprised he didn't bolt for the door.

"Are you doing okay?" Magnus asked him once the last student - a Gryffindor - had taken a seat at their table.

"Er," Max said, "I think so."

Magnus' first thought was one of surprise, not at his words, but at his accent. Although Magnus hadn't been born in England, he had lived their for long enough to be used to most British accents, but even at Hogwarts, they rarely encountered students from overseas.

"I wanted to be with Alec and Izzy," he continued, shifting nervously.

Alec and Izzy. It was strange to hear Isabelle and Alexander Lightwood referred to so casually, after everything he had read about their family in press.

"You'll be okay," Magnus reassured him, warming to the nervous little boy despite his reservations. "You can still go and hang out with them in their common room any time you want."

"Really?" Max asked. "I thought there were passwords and - wards."

"Wards?" Magnus repeated incredulously. "No, all you need is for someone to let you in. They're not supposed to give passwords to students in other houses but loads of people do it anyway. It's stupid to not be able to see each other."

"I guess," Max agreed. "That's good."

They paused in conversation as the sorting ceremony was brought to a close, and just like that the tables were suddenly filled with a marvelous range of food and drink.

"Wow," Max said, his blue eyes gleaming. "That's impressive," he turned to smile at Magnus, some of his nerves apparently eased by the appearance of the meal.

"Dig in," Magnus encouraged.

He watched as Max and the other first years filled their plates with far too much food before grabbing some for himself.

Although Magnus fundamentally disagreed with what Max's parents did, the youngest Lightwood seemed pleasant enough. Watching all the first year Hufflepuff's around the table, Magnus felt a flicker of protectiveness for him. He had no idea what the other Lightwood siblings were like, though he suspected somewhat less likeable than their eleven year old brother. Still, maybe they wouldn't be completely terrible either.

Or maybe Catarina was right, and he was just too much of a Hufflepuff for his own good.


	2. Chapter 2

Two weeks had passed since the beginning of term, and Magnus had easily fallen back into the routine of life at Hogwarts. Sixth and seventh years were lucky enough to not have any classes until at least 10am, so he headed down to breakfast just after nine, pulling on his school robes lazily and looping his tie around his neck without actually tying it.

He joined Ragnor and Catarina at the Ravenclaw table and started buttering his toast while they continued their conversation, only half listening as he tried to decide between honey or jam.

"I heard that the other night she threw a candlestick at the wall of the dorm," Catarina said, "it's a wonder she didn't smash through to the lake."

"Hmm," Ragnor replied noncommittedly. "Sounds like she's angry."

"No shit," Catarina agreed, shoveling a fork full of eggs into her mouth. "Then the brother showed up and off they went, didn't come back until it was almost morning. Merlin knows what they were up to."

"Probably just talking," Ragnor said sensibly. He was glancing alternatively at Catarina and the text book in front of him, which was open to a page about Dementors.

"Or plotting," Magnus added helpfully. "They look like plotters."

"You two look like plotters," Ragnor reasoned, turning a page. "They're just minding their own business."

"They never talk to anyone in the common room," Catarina continued, now addressing Magnus directly. "Unless it's to cause an argument. Just each other and their brother. Maybe everyone at Ilvermorny thought they were stuck up weirdos too."

"I have Defense with Alexander this morning," Magnus told her. "Last class he jinxed his partner before she was ready and she was so pissed it turned into a full on duel. Professor Garret was livid."

"And you're only telling us this now?" Catarina asked, "damn, I wish I'd taken Defense just to see the look on her face."

"Are you sure healing is the right career for you?" Ragnor teased, smirking at Catarina across the table. "You seem to like seeing fights more than dealing with the consequences."

"Only when the idiots getting hexed are dumb bigots," Catarina reasoned. "And they haven't given anyone cause to think any differently. If people mention their parents they just tell them to shut up. I hope there's more drama in your class Magnus, you have to keep us informed."

"I'll buy a pensive just so you can see," he joked. "Or steal the one in the headmistresses office again."

"I didn't hear that," Ragnor said loudly. "I did not hear you say that and will definitely not have to investigate your comment."

"Ragnor, you were there."

"Leave me alone," Ragnor laughed, wafting his hand vaguely in Magnus' direction. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

* * *

 

After finishing his toast, Magnus headed to the North Tower for class. Catarina had continued to gossip about the Lightwoods for so long that they'd lost track of time, and by the time he got to the right room, the rest of the class had already taken their seats.

"Mr. Bane," Professor Garret said as he pushed open the door. "How nice of you to join us. Perhaps a detention will help you find your way to class on time next week."

"Catarina Loss distracted me Professor," Magnus said, attempting a charming smile. "Surely she's the one who deserves to be punished."

"Yet she's not in my class, Magnus," Professor Garret reminded him. "And you are."

"Excellent point," Magnus agreed with a sigh. Clearly the Professor was still in a bad mood after the incident in their last class.

He turned away from her desk and saw the faces of his fellow classmates watching him with a mixture of boredom and amusement. He scanned the room quickly for a spare seat and was alarmed to see that the only one available was right at the back of the room, beside Alexander Lightwood.

He sat down somewhat reluctantly, pulling his quill and parchment out of his bag before kicking it under the table.

Alexander said nothing, though he did glance in Magnus' direction before quickly turning away again. The action made Magnus feel strangely uncomfortable, and he pushed his fringe – complete with the pink tips he'd had put in over summer – out of his eyes, staring resolutely to the front of the class, and not at Alexander Lightwood.

His determination to not interact with Alec however, was short lived, as after twenty minutes of theory, Professor Garret instructed the class to practice non-verbal spells with their partner for the rest of the hour.

"Well," Magnus said out loud.

The majority of the class had got to their feet automatically, but both he and Alec remained seated, looking at one another awkwardly.

When Alexander failed to comment, Magnus got up reluctantly and said, "Do you want to go first?"

"If you want."

"I'm asking you what you want," Magnus said. He folded his arms across his chest and looked sternly at Alexander. He had chin length hair, black, like his siblings, and his jaw was set in a manner that made him look permanently angry.

"Whatever."

"Fine," Magnus said. "I'll cast something at you, and you block."

"Fine," Alec agreed.

He finally got up from the table and stood in front of Magnus, his wand held firmly in one hand.

Drawing his own wand, Magnus flicked his wrist lazily, thinking of which spell to cast. Alec watched him impatiently, but Magnus didn't feel particularly inclined to rush for his benefit.

He'd never had any particular trouble with non-verbal spells, even in his fifth year, so when he finally decided to go for a simple stunning spell, the magic flowed easily from his wand in a burst of red light.

Unfortunately for Alec Lightwood, it was at that exact same moment that the boy on his left failed to counter a bat-bogey hex. Distracted by the alarming number of bats suddenly trying to climb out of his classmate's nose, Alec failed to notice Magnus' spell until it was too late to even raise his wand.

Magnus watched in mild horror as he was flung backwards into their desk, where he promptly collapsed onto the floor.

In the brief moment he was unconscious, Alec managed to draw the attention of most of the rest of the class. Magnus felt momentarily panicked – he'd expected Alec to at least attempt to block the spell, in which case it wouldn't have been nearly as powerful.

He bent down beside Alec on the floor, shaking him gently, but when he opened his eyes it was clear that he would rather have Magnus as far away from him as possible.

"Get off me," he said gruffly, pushing away the hand that was on his shoulder. "Did you do that on purpose?"

"What?" Magnus asked, baffled. He stood up, brushing dust from his robes.

Alec stood up too, glaring furiously at Magnus while the rest of the class watched with growing interest. "You hexed me while I wasn't looking," Alec declared, "on purpose."

"Oh, of course." Magnus replied sarcastically. "Obviously I knew that Locksley was going to start exhaling bats the second I cast my spell."

"A dangerous stunning spell."

"A spell that a fourth year could counter!"

"You were trying to stun me," Alec reiterated.

"God, you're not the center of the universe Alexander Lightwood. Get over yourself."

"I -

"WHAT is going on here?" Professor Garret had finally found the cause of the commotion, and stepped in between Alec and Magnus before they could carry on their argument. "Honestly," she complained, glaring between the two of them. "You'd think that with sixth years I could get through one class without having any of you fight like animals!"

The harsh words seemed to shut Alec up at least, who looked sullenly down at the ground as the Professor informed him that he would be joining Magnus in detention the next day.

"Great," Magnus muttered angrily to himself. If there was one thing he was sure of after that disaster of a class, it was that he didn't want to spend another minute of his time with Alexander Lightwood.

* * *

 

By the time evening rolled around, Alec was tired. After his encounter with Magnus that morning he'd been in a terrible mood and throughout the day, it had only grown worse.

He was incredibly glad when it was dinner time and Isabelle flopped down into the seat beside him, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Is it time for Christmas break yet?" She asked gloomily. "Oh wait, it's still September."

"'Fraid so."

"How was your day?" She asked, frowning at him. "You look miserable."

"I'm so sick of it," Alec sighed. "Everyone here hates us because they think we're just like our parents. They have no idea."

"You could try actually talking to people," she suggested gently. "Other than me and Max I mean. What about that boy in your dorm? Mathew? He's cute."

"He has a goatee," Alec pointed out disapprovingly. "And he sleeps in a onesie every night. Besides, how far has talking to people got you?"

"Mixed results really," Izzy said.

There was a lull in conversation as Isabelle helped herself to a serving of casserole. "How do you think Max is doing?"

"He seems to be making friends," Alec told her. He couldn't see his brother from the Slytherin table, but he'd seen him in the hallway earlier in the day, chattering happily with a group of other first years.

"Yeah, but how do you think he's doing, really?"

"I don't know. I wish I knew what went on in his head but he's so..."

"Frustrating?"

"I was going to say closed off. I don't know if he takes everything in his stride or if he's just not telling us how he is." "Maybe we just worry too much," Izzy reasoned, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah," Alec smiled. "You're probably right."

It was only when he was pouring another glass of pumpkin juice that Alec noticed the girl standing directly across from them, staring furiously with her hands on her hips.

Isabelle glanced up and spotted the girl just after he did, and Alec saw her posture change as she leant back in her seat and asked "can we help you?" In a tone that clearly indicated her unwillingness to do anything of the sort.

"My dad is an auror," she said with an air of importance. "He says that your parents are the worst thing to happen to the Ministry since Voldemort."

"Sounds like your dad needs to think before he opens his mouth." Isabelle retorted. "Maybe it's a family trait."

Alec watched as the girl – a Gryffindor – blinked at Izzy in shock. He was almost tempted to laugh at her expression, but mostly he wanted to avoid another fight.

"Let's just go," he said to Izzy, but his sister shook her head furiously.

"No. If she's got something to say, I want to hear it."

"Well," the girl said, red in the face from how clearly convinced of her argument she was, "you're whole family are corrupt! I think – we all think – your parents should go back to America and stop trying to fuck up the Ministry like they fucked up their kids!"

"I see." Isabelle said, an icy calm radiating off her. "Please, tell me more."

Alec saw her take out her wand underneath the table, and heard the muttered Ablattero spell. The Gryffindor however, was clearly non the wiser, as she continued to rant at them.

Unfortunately for her, all that came out of her mouth was a series of nonsensical babbling.

"Fascinating," Izzy commented, smirking at her brother. "You sound just like your father."

Her angry ranting only increased in volume, and spurred on, Isabelle muttered another spell under her breath, causing a pair of scaled red horns to spout from the top of the girls head.

"Oh dear," Izzy said as she reached up in horror. "Maybe you should get that seen to."

The girls shouting had caught the attention of the majority of the Slytherin table, some of whom looked impressed. Unfortunately, it had also caught the attention of a number of Professors.

"Let me guess," Izzy said to Professor Aldertree as the Gryffindor was led away from the hall by another teacher. "Detention?"

"Tomorrow," Aldertree agreed. "And don't let me catch you playing cruel tricks like that again. I don't know what you're used to at Ilvermorny, but here at Hogwarts we don't put up with this kind of nonsense."

"Sure thing," Izzy said, giving him a winning smile.

He stalked away, and Izzy turned to Alec, meeting his reproachful gaze with an innocent shrug.

"Now we both have detention tomorrow," he sighed. "I don't think this is going to make people like us any more."

"True," Izzy agreed. "Did you see her face though? Totally worth it!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: suggestion of child abuse

Detention at Hogwarts, Alec soon discovered, was not at all what he was used to. Instead of being forced to write lines, as he'd expected, he and Isabelle were tasked with cleaning the Transfiguration classroom after a nasty incident of the second years exploding, rather than transfiguring, their toadstools. Alec wasn't exactly sure how the whole class managed to have exactly the same problem, but according to the Professor, this sort of thing wasn't out of the ordinary at all.

The two of them had been instructed to clean up the mess without using magic. However, the Professor had neglected to take away their wands, and so Izzy and Alec had set about using all the scouring spells they could think of on the sticky floors and desks.

Ten minutes later, Professor Garret pushed the door open again, and they hurriedly shoved their wands out of sight to avoid being caught slacking.

"Late to class, late to detention..." She was saying, her back to Alec and Izzy. "It simply won't do Magnus. You're supposed to be a prefect!"

Magnus slinked into the room behind her, looking suitably put out by the assault upon his character. Alec caught his eye briefly, but quickly averted his gaze to the purple goo stuck to the leg of a chair.

"I'll leave you to help Isabelle and Alexander," she told him sternly. "And no more fighting, any of you!"

"Yes Professor," they chorused glumly, but as soon as she was out of sight Izzy threw down the unused cloth in her hand and perched on the nearest clean table.

"I like your hair!" She told Magnus eagerly, "did you do the colour yourself?"

"Oh," Magnus said, clearly surprised at Izzy's friendly manner. He reached up to touch his own hair and smiled, "my friend Catarina put it in over summer."

"Catarina Loss, from Slytherin?" Izzy asked, "she doesn't seem to like us very much."

"If it's any consolation" Magnus told her, "she doesn't like anybody very much."

"Understandable," Izzy smiled, jumping down from the table and lazily aiming a cleaning spell at the spot just in front of Magnus' feet, "I'm Isabelle, in case you didn't know. And that," she said, gesturing to Alec, who was watching them curiously, "is my brother, Alec. What are you in for, anyway?"

"Er," Magnus said, hesitantly glancing back up at Alec, "Just being late to class really, and I'm Magnus."

"Clearly being late is considered a worse offence than knocking me out around here."

"What?" Izzy demanded, her smile immediately morphing into a glare as she looked at Magnus. "You knocked my brother out? Like, unconscious?"

"It was an accident! Honestly Alexander," he replied, addressing Alec, who remained on the other side of the room. "I know you think differently, but I wouldn't hurt you on purpose."

"Do you believe him?" Isabelle turned to her brother, a serious expression on her face. She would, Alec was reasonably sure, jinx Magnus on the spot if he wanted her to.

Alec looked from his sister to Magnus, who was standing uncomfortably by the door. He looked sincere enough, Alec reasoned – his bright green eyes filled with a surprising sense of urgency.

"I wouldn't," he reiterated.

Pushing all thoughts of the colour of Magnus' eyes out of his mind, Alec shrugged at his sister. "I guess I might have over reacted," he admitted, won over by the other boys apparent sincerity. "It was probably an accident."

"Great!" Izzy beamed, turning back to Magnus. "He does tend to over react," she told him conspiratorially. "Where did you get that ring from?"

Alec turned away as they chatted, concentrating on the spells he needed to get the stains out of the floorboards. Something about Magnus' presence put him on edge, and he didn't want to waste time analysing his feeling about why that might be.

With his help though, they made quick work of the classroom, and when Professor Garret returned an hour after leaving them, there wasn't any sign of the mess that had previously decorated the majority of the room.

Free at last, they separated outside the classroom, Magnus bidding them a cheerful farewell before heading back to the Hufflepuff common room.

"What is wrong with you?!" Izzy moaned as she and Alec started walking in the opposite direction. She shoved him playfully in the shoulder, and only grinned in response to his momentary loss of balance.

"What?"

"You barely said a word to Magnus the whole time! And that boy is cute."

"He seemed more interested in talking to you," Alec pointed out.

"Not in that way," Izzy argued, "don't you think he's super dreamy? Did you see his hair?"

"Yes Isabelle, I have eyes." Alec sighed. "He's – It doesn't even matter, he wouldn't be interested in me." And, Alec thought to himself, the idea of being interested in anyone at all wasn't one he particularly enjoyed dwelling on.

"Well he can stand to be in the same room with us," Izzy shrugged, "that's better than the majority of the student body." "Come on," she prompted when Alec failed to reply. "Do you like him or not?"

"I don't know him."

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Fine, do you think he's smoking hot and would you or would you not totally tap that given the chance?"

"He has nice eyes," Alec confessed reluctantly. "But nothing's going to happen, he might not even be interested in, you know, men. Plus I'm still not convinced he isn't a bit of a dick."

"If that boy isn't at least bi I will be extremely surprised," Izzy grinned. "Maybe I'll ask him."

"You can't just ask him," Alec said, horrified.

"Why not? How about, 'Hey Magnus, do you like guys because my brother totally wants to get with you.' Too forward? Maybe more like 'wants to stare deeply into your eyes in front of a crackling log fire."

"Try, 'wants you to help him murder his little sister.'"

"You love me," Isabelle laughed, hooking her arm through her brother's as they descended the staircase down to the main entrance. "And I'm serious. You should talk to him more."

"Maybe," Alec relented, mostly because he knew it was unlikely that Izzy would stop nagging him until he agreed.

Definitely not at all because she might be right.

* * *

 

Magnus was surprised.

He actually left his detention in a good mood – Isabelle seemed like the sort of person he could get along with extremely well, and her openness had been something he was not expecting. He certainly hadn't expected to receive compliments about the parts of himself that made him more obviously different. Not from a Lightwood.

Alec on the other hand remained a closed book. He was reserved, and Magnus wasn't sure whether it was down to his own insecurity, or if he genuinely disliked Magnus as a person. Still, he seemed to have realised that he never meant to hex him, which was something.

After tapping the right rhythm on the barrel that led to the common room, Magnus entered the living space to be met with the sight of yet another Lightwood.

Max was slumped in the chair nearest the door, a book open in his lap despite the fact that he was obviously asleep. Upon noticing him, Magnus planned to creep past, not wanting to wake the boy, who was obviously exhausted despite it having only just gone seven. When he got closer however, he couldn't help put notice how sickly pale Max looked, even in the warm yellow glow of the common room.

He was leaning back in his chair, his shirt half open where he'd pulled off his tie. For a second, Magnus watched the slow rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, then with a jolt of horror he noticed a row of deep red scars disappearing below Max's collar bone.

Magnus stood, frozen by the armchair that Max was asleep in.

It could just be from an accident, he tried to tell himself, but Magnus had seen too many instances of kids with scars – kids from his life before he'd discovered he was a wizard – and those scars hadn't come from accidents at all.

Taking a deep breath, he bent down beside Max. For the moment, his concern couldn't be with the scars but with his sickly completion. He put a hand on Max's shoulder, shaking him gently.

"Mmm, what?" Max opened his eyes, blinking at Magnus blearily. "What’s going on?" He repeated.

"Hey," Magnus said. "Sorry for waking you. I just wanted to make sure you're okay; you don't look too good."

"I'm fine," Max said reflexively. He looked around the room, seeming to realise where he was for the first time. "Just tired I guess." He laughed nervously. "I should go to bed."

He snapped his book shut and tried to stand, but quickly lost his footing. Luckily, Magnus was still close by and managed to reach out to him, grabbing him by the arm before he could fall.

"Do you need to go to the hospital wing?" Magnus asked worriedly. "I can take you if you want."

"No, no." Max insisted. He shrugged off Magnus' hand and forced a smile. "Just a head rush, really. I stayed up all last night finishing an essay. I'll be fine after I get some rest."

He walked towards his dorm room, managing to stay upright this time, but looking no less ill.

Magnus frowned after him.

Any sense of happiness he'd had from getting to know Isabelle and Alexander better had vanished, replaced by a horrible sense of dread. It seemed like his classmate's assumptions about the Lightwood's had been wrong – Izzy had certainly turned out nothing like he expected – nothing like her parents. If that were the case for Alexander and Max too... Well, Magnus could imagine their parents not taking too kindly to three children who could ruin their reputation.

He headed up to his own dormitory with an unease nestled deeply in his gut. Lying down on his bed, he vowed to ask Izzy or Alec about Max the next time he saw them – not a particularly easy topic of conversation, but perhaps a necessity. He was a prefect after all, and Max's wellbeing was somewhat his responsibility.

Not only that, but he could feel himself beginning to care more and more about all of them.


	4. Chapter 4

Alec's coffee was almost knocked out of his hand by a large tawny owl dropping a newspaper unceremoniously onto his breakfast plate.

Wiping the soggy bits of egg from the front, Alec picked up The Daily Prophet to be met with the face of his mother glowering back at him. The photograph had clearly been taken outside the Ministry, much to Maryse's disdain.

As he read the title of the article, Alec became suddenly aware of several other people turning to stare at him. A vast majority of students read the newspapers and of course, would likely take anything The Prophet had to say about his parents as being his personal wrongdoing.

Flipping to the news article, Alec saw what his mother was being accused of. Having been a judge for Congress back in the States, Maryse was only too happy to take up a similar position in the UK. Though apparently several people thought she had been serving unjust sentences to certain witches and wizards based on the status of their magic.

Alec stared at the page, resentment flooding through him. Whether or not the accusations were true, he couldn't be sure, but the fact that his parents actions constantly followed him and his siblings around school was becoming infuriating. And the news, coupled with the fact that Maryse and Robert were due to visit the school to see them that very day, would surely not go unnoticed by his classmates.

The rest of his breakfast seemed suddenly unappealing, and Alec threw the paper back down onto the table, standing up swiftly to head back to the common room. At least it was the weekend, he reminded himself, and he could spend the majority of the day avoiding everyone if he wanted to.

The two people he couldn't avoid however, were his parents.

Come late afternoon he, Isabelle and Max were being ushered into one of the Professor's private studies, where Maryse and Robert stood by the fireplace, waiting for them.

"How have you been?" Maryse asked immediately. She stepped forward and embraced Max, who looked startled, but let her.

"Okay," he told her.

"Other than everyone hating us for being related to you," Izzy put in, never one to soften her words.

Maryse straightened. Alec couldn't quite read the look she gave her daughter. Part of it was clearly offense, but there was also something else there, something akin to sadness. "The report in the newspapers is not true." She said firmly. "Some people just like to spread rumors."

"Your mother has been working very hard," Robert agreed.

"And you know we left all of that behind us." She said, "we don't feel the same way anymore, about – well." she stopped herself, clearly unwilling to talk directly about the views she and her husband had championed before their move to England. "Max, how are you, really?" She asked her youngest son.

"Just tired," Max replied, shrugging.

"And the potions have been working"? Robert asked.

"Yes."

"You don't hurt yourself?"

"We've been taking care of him," Alec told them firmly. "He's going to be fine."

"Good. Good," Maryse said, offering Alec a small smile. "I know this has been a big change for all of you," she addressed Izzy in particular, who was standing off to one side, her hands on her hips. "But it's for the best, what with your brother's condition."

"Condition?" Izzy repeated. "You can't even say it, can you?"

"Isabelle," Robert warned.

"No," she said to her father. "Max is a werewolf, dad. It's not like he's got a cold and he's going to get better."

"You don't know that," Maryse said sharply. "There could be something, down the line, that could fix him."

"Stop it," Alec interrupted, putting an arm around his brother protectively. "He doesn't need fixing, there's nothing wrong with him."

Maryse turned away briefly, while Izzy shook her head, "Of course not," she said, "that's not what I meant, Max."

"I know," her brother replied quietly. "It's okay."

After clearly struggling for the right words for several minutes, Maryse said "we love you, Max," rather abruptly. "You know that, don't you?"

"Yes."

The five of them stood in silence for a short while, Max shifting uncomfortable from foot to foot and Maryse staring between her children, once again lost for words.

Finally, Robert cleared his throat and asked, "what about the two of you?" addressing Alec and Izzy. "How are your classes going?"

"Fine," Izzy said shortly.

Alec nodded, adding, "Defense is quite interesting."

"Have you met any nice British girls?" He asked his son.

"Jesus Christ."

"Isabelle!" Their mother reprimanded. "There's no need for that."

"I work with Aline Penhallow's father at the Ministry," Robert continued, "she's in her sixth year too; a Ravenclaw. I think the two of you would get on like a house on fire."

"Oh." Alec said flatly, and even Max looked up at him in concern. "Sure, maybe."

They talked for a little while longer about life at Hogwarts and the Ministry, the conversation somewhat stilted and accented by Isabelle's pronounced sighs whenever one of her parents said something she deemed inappropriate, which was often.

They were served tea by one of the Hogwarts house elves, and by the time they'd finished it almost an hour had passed since their parents had arrived.

"Well," Robert said, glancing down at his watch. "We should really get going."

They rose from the table they'd gathered around to have the tea, but before turning to the fireplace Maryse knelt down in front of her youngest son, taking his hands.

"Max," she said seriously, "you know that you can't tell anyone about your condition, don't you?"

"I – I know, but I was thinking, maybe -"

"No one." Maryse interrupted. "It's too dangerous."

"But," Max said slowly. "The laws are different here. Isn't that why we moved?"

"It's his choice," Isabelle said defiantly, before her mother could reply.

"He's just a child."

"Non of us are kids anymore," Izzy argued. "You can't tell us what to do."

She was getting angry again, Alec could tell.

"Please Max," Maryse implored her son, "I just want you to be safe."

Max didn't say anything. He carefully stepped away from his mother, pulling his hands out of her grasp, and inched closer to his brother and sister.

Sighing deeply, Maryse got to her feet. She regarded the three of them, perplexed, before sighing once more.

"Well," she said. "We'll see you all at Christmas."

The three of them nodded.

Without further hesitation Maryse and Robert stepped into the fireplace, disappearing in a burst of green smoke and hesitant smiles.

"I hate them," Isabelle shouted, storming back out into the corridor ahead of her brothers. "Can you believe mom? Neither of them want to believe that any of us aren't perfect fucking carbon copies of them."

She whirled around, expecting Alec and Max to agree, but neither of them said anything. They were too distracted by the hoard of people who had stopped in the hallway to listen to Isabelle's rant.

"Must be dinner time," Alec said meekly.

The gaping students quickly made themselves look busy, embarrassed to be caught, and Izzy closed the distance between her and her brothers.

"Sorry," she said, "they just – urgh."

"I'm going to go," Max told them. "I should -"

"You don't have to listen to them," Izzy reminded him. "You know that, right?"

"Yeah," Max said, attempting a smile. "I'll see you guys later."

They watched him disappear amongst the crowd of people, before Izzy said, "I worry about him."

"Me too," Alec confessed. "But there's nothing we can do."

After the crowds had somewhat dispersed they made their way reluctantly to the Great Hall. Neither of them felt particularly hungry, but they filled their plates just for something to do, taking seats at the far end of the Slytherin table.

"You shouldn't let them talk to you like that you know," Izzy said after a moments silence. "They know you're gay."

"Be quiet," Alec hissed, glancing around them nervously. Thankfully, no one within earshot was paying them any attention.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Alec busied himself with chasing the peas around his plate, and Izzy frowned at him.

"I'm serious," she said sternly. "You don't need to do off and date Aline Penhallow or anything stupid like that."

"I won't."

"Really? Because I know you."

"Really," Alec agreed. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I saw her kiss another girl after class the other day."

"Oh my god," Izzy grinned, her eyes lighting up, "you should have told dad that."

"Probably wouldn't have deterred him," Alec laughed. "I just wish they wouldn't ignore it. I could deal with them being mad, but just pretending they don't know?"

"I know. They're the same about Max. Maybe if they didn't have their heads shoved so far up their own asses..."

"Maybe," Alec smiled. "But I doubt that will change any time soon."

* * *

 

When Magnus had snuck into the Ravenclaw common room and put a dungbomb in Ragnor's underwear draw, he'd considered it a fun joke. Now that Ragnor had assigned him the task of trailing

down to the grounds to do his prefect duties every night however, he was beginning to rethink his sense of humour.

Who would be stupid enough, he asked himself, to be lurking around the grounds at night in the low temperatures of mid Autumn anyway?

The answer to this questions of course, was Alec Lightwood.

Magnus found him behind Greenhouse Two, facing towards the forest with his back to Magnus. He had a large wooden bow in one hand, aimed carefully at the oak trees in front of him. His wand was led on the grass, casting a warm glow over the surrounding area. As Magnus watched, he lined up and released an arrow, which sailed in a straight line into the center of a tree trunk nearby.

"Impressive," Magnus said out loud, and much to his amusement, Alec visibly jumped at the surprise of being caught.

"You're a regular Robin Hood. I wouldn't have thought you'd bother with muggle stuff like this. You know there's a spell for shooting arrows, right?"

"Er," Alec said uncertainly. "What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same question," Magnus shrugged, leaning casually against the glass wall of the greenhouse. "I'm a prefect," he reminded Alec, tapping the gold badge that was pinned to his robes. "I could have you in detention all week for being out after dark. Luckily for you, I happen to be a very nice and generous person, so I'll let you off."

"Oh, thanks," Alec replied, apparently taking him seriously. "I just, er – wanted some space."

Magnus nodded slowly, watching him hoist the bow over one shoulder and retrieve his wand. "I heard that you argued with your parents," Magnus said carefully. Part of him wanted to tease the boy shooting arrows in the dark, but another part of him was busy thinking about what Catarina said she'd overheard in the hallway earlier that evening, and how worried he had been about Max.

"News travels fast," Alec laughed humorlessly.

"People actually seem to be saying positive things about you for once, if it makes you feel any better."

"Honestly, not really," Alec said. "I should get back to the common room."

He walked towards Magnus and started to pass him, but Magnus reached out and took hold of his arm.

"Wait."

Alec looked at him expectantly.

"I – erm." Magnus hesitated, unsure how to proceed without coming off as nosy or downright insulting. He wasn't even sure whether or not Alec liked him after all, and didn't want to make matters worse. "I really don't mean to pry," he said, "but I noticed that Max looked ill the other day. And I saw that he had scars on his chest that, well. That didn't look like they were just from falling over."

"What are you talking about?" Alec demanded, panic clear in his eyes. "There's nothing wrong with him."

"If you tell me that, I'll believe you," Magnus said. "I will. But if there's anything... untoward going on, it's my duty as a prefect to report it."

"Wait," Alec said. He unhooked the bow and quiver from his shoulder and put them down at his feet. "What exactly do you think it is that's going on?"

"I thought," again, Magnus hesitated. This was the longest conversation he and Alec had had since meeting, and although the topic wasn't a particularly jolly one, he was enjoying getting to know a little more about him, even found the archery quite endearing. It would be a shame to say the wrong thing and ruin it. "Maybe, because your parents -"

"You think they'd hurt him?" Alec asked, disbelief evident on his face. "It's none of your business."

"Alexander."

"Look, it's nice that you're looking out for him, really, but I promise you it's nothing like that."

"Then what?"

"I can't tell you," Alec said, looking more annoyed at himself than at Magnus. "And to be honest, I barely know you. Just believe me when I say it's nothing like what you're thinking."

"Okay," Magnus said. "I believe you." And he did. It would have been extremely easy for Alec to make up excuses for why Max was hurt, but the secrecy, although frustrating, was somehow more reassuring than a downright lie.

They stayed where they were for a moment, separated only by the bow and arrows at their feet. Magnus could see that Alec was breathing heavily, the darkness casting long shadows across his face, and despite being immensely relieved at the answers he'd gotten, he regretted having caused him more trouble after an obviously stressful day.

"I could teach you that spell," he offered, wanting to in some way clear the air after what had been an awkward conversation, wanting to cheer Alec up a little. "The one to shoot arrows – if you want."

Alec considered him for a long moment, then he shrugged, his expression unreadable. "Okay."

He stepped out of Magnus' space, muttering 'lumos' so that they could both actually see what they were doing. "Show me."

Feeling surprisingly self conscious, Magnus stepped forward. "You move your wand in a kind of back and forth motion," he said, demonstrating the action.

"Like the motion of pulling back the string on a bow?" Alec suggested, his tone teasing.

"No, like the motion of doing a spell," Magnus retorted playfully. "Then you concentrate on where you want to aim and say, Arcus."

On que, an arrow shot from Magnus' wand, soaring through the air before embedding itself into another tree.

"Seems simple enough," Alec shrugged. Magnus lit his own wand to provide a source of light, and Alec aimed at the tree where Magnus had launched his arrow.

"Arcus," he said confidently.

Much to his horror, although the arrow did fly from his wand, it veered dangerously to the left, falling much too quickly so that it landed in a patch of gillyweed that their Professor was growing.

"What did I do?" Alec asked, disappointment etched across his face.

"You're moving like you're really shooting an arrow," Magnus told him. "It's more of a throwing motion."

"Like this?" Alec asked, trying to replicate the arm motion that Magnus had shown him.

"Not quite, just..." At a loss for how to explain, Magnus put his wand down and went to stand directly beside Alec. He placed one hand on his arm and carefully guided his movement, demonstrating how to cast the spell correctly. "Think of it as casting a fishing line," he suggested.

"I've never done that," Alec said, "but sure." His gaze lingered for a little too long on Magnus' hand, that was still on his forearm, and Magnus quickly removed it, realising for the first time how close together they were standing.

He hadn't meant for this to turn into such a physical demonstration.

This time however, when Alec tried the spell, he hit his mark easily.

"You're a good teacher," he smiled, his blue eyes wide and honest when he looked at Magnus.

"Thanks," Magnus said, startled by the sincerity. "Though maybe we should actually get back to the castle."

He didn't want to, but it was cold and late, and sometimes, despite himself, he had to be sensible. Otherwise he'd have to think more about the butterflies that took flight in his chest when Alec smiled at him like that.

"Yeah," Alec sighed, his smile fading again. "I guess so."

His reluctance made Magnus' heart ache just a little, and he silently cursed himself. He would not, he told himself firmly, get attached to a Lightwood.

He just wouldn't.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mention of suicide

Magnus had heard that in Gryffindor Tower, there was a bizarre occurrence in which the stairs turned into a slide if a boy tried to go up to the girls dorms. He had several problems with this old fashioned demonstration of sexism, but mostly he was grateful that no such wards were in effect in the Slytherin dorms. Magnus spent an unprecedented amount of time in Catarina's room, and given that most of her roommates seemed to vacate the area whenever he was around, he was fairly certain that they thought he and Catarina were dating.

Thankfully, after kissing once whilst paying spin the bottle, both of them had decided that they should never, ever be anything more than friends.

Mostly, Magnus reflected, because although he and Catarina got on very well, they were also prone to rubbing each other up the wrong way, and would likely combust within a week if in each other's constant company.

Tonight, Catarina was taking an uncharacteristic interest in fashion - trying on Halloween costumes, which she had a surprising number of given the fact that they could only be worn one night a year. Halloween was still over a week away, but the parties were always fun, long and filled with drunk couples falling over each other - Catarina clearly wanted to be prepared.

"Is that a sexy pumpkin?" Magnus asked, horrified, as his friend pulled a distinctly circular orange dress from the back of her wardrobe.

"Don't you remember it from first year?" Catarina asked, "I looked dreadful."

"You must have blended in with the Great Hall so much that I've completely forgotten," Magnus teased, "how terrible for me."

"Very funny," Catarina said, rolling her eyes at him. "What are you wearing anyway?"

"I can't decide if it's too meta to go as a wizard."

Catarina stared at him.

"You know," Magnus continued, "Gandalf style, not just in my school robes."

"Okay, nerd," Catarina grinned. "Feel free to pick from my fabulous collection if you decide you want to actually look good and stand the chance of meeting someone at the party. Or are you still hung up on the Lightwood?"

"I am not hung up on Alexander," Magnus told her firmly. "All I said was that he can be surprisingly charming... and muscular."

"That's how is starts with you."

"I resent that implication."

Laughing carelessly, Catarina tossed a long, netted black skirt at him. It landed half off the bed, where Magnus was sat cross-legged, but he caught it before it could fall to the floor.

"What's this?" He asked, holding up the flimsy peace of material in front of him. It was decorated with sewn on cobwebs and spiders.

"I don't know, some creepy skirt I got years ago, do you want it?"

"Why would I want it?" Magnus asked, scrunching up his nose as he gave the skirt a suspicious sniff, "it's been at the bottom of your trunk for Merlin knows how long, and it isn't very Gandalf."

"You have good legs though," Catarina argued simply.

"That is true."

Shrugging, Magnus stood up, pulling down his pants. "It would be better without the spiders," he joked as Catarina pulled off her own dress – a red, spiked number with a severe black belt – and stepped into a silky cat suit.

"I'm glad we're this comfortable with each other," Magnus commented as Catarina turned her back on him so that he could do up her zipper. "You're roommates would be horrified if they walked in right now."

He pulled up the skirt, which was a little tight around his hips, and admired his reflection in Catarina's mirror.

"Well I look stupid with this shirt on," he said, regarding his appearance contemplatively, "but hey, I pull off the skirt pretty well."

"What do you think of the cat suit?" Catarina asked, spinning around, "does it make my ass look huge?"

"Totally, but in a good way."

"Thanks for your honesty," Catarina smirked, shoving him playfully.

"That's what I'm here for."

* * *

 

It was gone ten when Catarina's roommates finally trailed back into the room, meaning that it was time for Magnus to leave. He wasn't technically supposed to be out of his common room after 8pm anyway – Ragnor would be deeply troubled. The thought made him laugh as he headed back through the passage to the Slytherin common room.

It was mostly empty, aside from a few seventh years nestled in a corner talking quietly to one another. Somehow, it didn't surprise him when he scanned the rest of the room and his eyes came to rest on Alec. He was sat on the sofa by the fire, his legs tucked under himself and a book in one hand.

He looked calmer than Magnus had ever seen him before – unaware that he was being observed – and Magnus couldn't help but stand and watch the way his hair fell into his eyes as he turned a page of his book. He watched for what might have been considered a worrying length of time.

He contemplated leaving without disturbing him, but he was struck with a sudden need to explore this new side of Alexander Lightwood – this boy who sat by the fire late at night in sweatpants, reading

books with his hair tied back in a half ponytail. It seemed a stark contrast to the angry boy he had seen shooting arrows at a tree a week earlier, but no less interesting.

"Hey there," Magnus said, careful this time not to startle Alec as he approached.

"Oh," Alec said, his eyes travelling from the page of his book up to Magnus' face, before he looked with a confused expression at his bare legs. "Hi."

Magnus sat down on the other side of the sofa, wishing he'd put his pants back on and not chosen to walk back to the common room in Catarina's silly skirt.

"An obvious question comes to mind," Alec said, staring for a moment longer at Magnus' exposed calves. "But let's go with what are you doing here?"

"I was just hanging out with Catarina," Magnus told him, pulling at the hems of the skirt. It made him feel slightly more naked than he would have liked, as he was quite a bit taller than Catarina, and the material rose to his thighs when he sat down.

"And the skirt?" Alec asked, "it seems to be covered in spiders."

"For Halloween," Magnus clarified. "Not that I'm going to wear it," he clarified, "It's ugly - we were just messing around. Not – not messing around," he said, "like that. I mean, being stupid, you know."

Magnus took a moment to stop himself from speaking, wondering at why he suddenly seemed to have lost the ability to communicate like a competent human being.

"Good to know," Alec said, a small smile tugging up the corners of his mouth.

"Anyway," Magnus said forcefully, "what are you reading?"

"Oh it's just a book my mom always liked," Alec said, holding it up so that Magnus could see the cover. "She gave it to Izzy before school started, but Izzy isn't much of a reader."

"That's sweet," Magnus said. And something, he added internally, that he wouldn't have expected from Maryse Lightwood. "How are things with your parents anyway?"

"Oh you know," Alec shrugged, "the usual." He paused, looking as though he wanted to say more, but he glanced up at Magnus and apparently thought better of it. "You know what parents are like." He said finally.

"Not really."

"Huh?"

"Not really," Magnus repeated. He didn't know why he'd said it, but now that he had, he wanted to keep talking, to keep talking to Alec. It was a strange feeling, not only because they still didn't know each other very well – thought they had spoken a number of times since the archery lesson – but also because Magnus wasn't exactly an open book when it came to his life outside of Hogwarts. "I don't exactly have parents."

"What do you mean?" Alec asked, confused. He seemed to realise the lack of sensitivity of his words almost immediately and rephrased his question - "what happened to them?"

Magnus smiled sadly. He'd certainly gotten Alec's attention, but the concern filling his eyes wasn't exactly the look that Magnus wanted from him. Still, he'd brought it on himself.

"My mother killed herself," he said bluntly. "I was only a kid and, well, my stepdad didn't want me after that."

"What about your real dad?" Alec asked, his expression growing sadder by the minute.

"Never knew him. But don't - " he reached out to Alec, placing a hand on his arm urgently, "don't look at me like that Alexander Lightwood," he said sternly, "I don't want you to feel sorry for me. I just – well. I'd like for us to get to know each other, and now you know something. Something important – about me."

Magnus wasn't sure his words would have any affect, but immediately Alec nodded firmly, his expression changing from one of sorrow to a quiet kind of contentment.

"My family's kind of a big deal," Alec said, leaning closer to Magnus, "I guess you know that -"

"You don't have to -"

"I know." Alec said. His hand wandered instinctively to rest on Magnus' thigh, but when he realised that the skirt didn't quite cover his leg he quickly withdrew it, blushing faintly. "I worry too much," he continued, "that I'm not good enough. Family is everything to me, and I'm never good enough. I kind of hate that I want to be."

Magnus looked at him. It was ridiculous, he thought fleetingly, that whenever they had these moments, Alec seemed to be backlit. Down by the forest it was a simple lumos, aided by the Autumn moonlight. Now it was the fire, crackling gently behind him while Alec looked down into it, embarrassed but, Magnus hoped, not regretting his words.

Magnus took a deep breath.

Then he took Alec's hand.

Alec turned to him, all whispey dark hair and blue, surprised eyes and dammit if he wasn't exactly Magnus' type.

"I'm glad we know each other a little better," Magnus said, his voice low. "Even if it is in a weird, super intense way."

"Yeah," Alec said. There was a hint of laughter on his face, but it was clearly eclipsed by the fact that he was staring at Magnus' hand in his as if it were the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen.

"I'll see you in class tomorrow," Magnus smiled. "Enjoy your book."

"Yeah," Alec said again. He let go of Magnus hand only after realising he was about to leave, and watched with mixture of panic and joy as he walked out of the room.

As Magnus took the stairs two at a time on the way back to his own common room, he reflected briefly on his vow not to get attached to the Lightwood's.

Clearly he'd vastly overestimated his own self control.

Especially given how completely adorable Alec Lightwood was turning out to be.


	6. Chapter 6

A Hufflepuff scarf was wrapped around his neck to ward off the chilly November weather, Ragnor was sat to his left regarding some of the students homemade banners with interest, and between them was an old fashioned microphone magically enchanted to record their voices and broadcast throughout the quidditch stadium.

Magnus was perfectly capable of casting a sonorus charm of course, but it was much less effort while trying to keep track of the match, not to have to concentrate on casting a spell at the same time. Neither Ragnor nor Magnus were particular fans of sport, so could be considered an odd choice for quidditch commentators – however, they had quickly learnt an appreciation for the school teams since Catarina had been a beater since her second year, and Magnus was particularly partial to watching people fall off their brooms. From a low, safe height, of course.

Plus, they'd realised that people much preferred a commentary that was sometimes off topic but interesting than a boring recital of the teams actions.

They watched as the two teams – Slytherin and Gryffindor – rose into the air in front of them, and Magnus was surprised to see that opposite Catarina on the pitch – taking the other Slytherin beater position – was none other than Isabelle Lightwood.

"Why's she playing?" He whispered to Ragnor, who regarded him with a tired expression and said, "didn't you read the pre-game information they gave us?" He held up a small piece of parchment to cement his point. "Anderson got injured in the training session last night and apparently Isabelle was a real big shot at quidditch in America. They know Jace Wayland, and he plays professionally now."

"Huh."

Turning his attention back to the pitch, Magnus watched as the referee blew her whistle and the balls were released – one que the fourteen people on the pitch flew in all directions, swerving around each other and doing moves on a broomstick that Magnus was fairly sure should be impossible.

He listened as Ragnor gave the general opening spiel about who was playing and the number of points each house needed before he interjected with a slightly more lively commentary.

"And if we look to the right of the Professor's section we can see Isabelle Lightwood," Magnus informed the crowd. "A top quidditch player from Ilvermorny and all round good person – if anyone is still giving her or her brothers a hard time then they should grow up and get a life."

Ragnor stared at him in confusion, but Magnus was too busy watching Isabelle. "And she just smashed that bludger right into Blackthorn's shoulder – that's going to hurt in the morning. And probably all day today, actually."

"It means that the Slytherin team have taken possession of the quaffle though!" Ragnor put in.

"Right you are Ragnor. That's Smith with the quaffle - she just passed it over to Jenkins. You can see that Loss and Lightwood are staying close to the Slytherin chasers now – they don't want the other team getting near. And just in case anyone's wondering – Catarina and I aren't dating – I'm single."

"And Slytherin score!" Ragnor bellowed, to a series of cheers from the crowd. "What are you doing?" He asked Magnus while the Slytherin's celebrated. "Are you still thinking about Alec Lightwood? 'Just so everyone in the entire school knows, I'm single," he mocked.

"What? I'm not – shut up." Magnus told him firmly. "This is excellent quidditch commentary."

"You keep telling yourself that," Ragnor said. He turned back to the microphone, everyone suddenly alert as the two seekers whizzed past the stands, a small, golden ball glinting in front of their eyes.

"There goes Hunter and Cole," Ragnor said excitedly. "The rest of the team don't seem to be doing anything at all while their chasers' go after the snitch."

He was right. Too far away to do much more than watch, the rest of the Gryffindor and Slytherin players were looking on nervously as the seekers darted around the far goalposts, getting closer and closer to the golden ball.

The whole school seemed to hold their breath, watching the action unfold.

"Hunter catches the snitch!" Magnus declared, using his omnioculars to watch the seeker fly a celebratory loop on his broom. "Slytherin win!"

Just like that it was over, the Slytherin side of the stands erupted with cheers, and the seeker cheerfully circled around them, holding the snitch above his head.

"That was a quick one," Ragnor said.

"More time for the after party!" Magnus grinned, slapping him on the shoulder. "Come on Ragnor, have a little fun!"

"I'll come for a bit." Ragnor agreed. Then his eye was caught by something on the pitch, and Magnus craned his neck over the side of their box to see what he was looking at.

"That's new."

Magnus saw Catarina on the ground with her teammates, and as he watched she embraced Isabelle firmly, laughing and patting her on the back.

"See," Magnus said triumphantly, turning back to Ragnor. "My commentary is great! Even Catarina is being nice to them now!"

"Yeah, that's got to be why."

"I'm a founder of relationships, I'm should get the Nobel Peace Prize or something."

"You're going to be unbearable after a few drinks, aren't you?"

"Oh, totally!" Magnus agreed. "Come on, let's go and catch up with them."

* * *

 

Even though it was barely five o clock, the Slytherin common room was filled with the sounds of celebration. Several people had bottles of beer in their hands – Magnus was never sure where all the alcohol came from – and there was loud music blasting from the speakers that someone had set up in

the corner. Magnus had been friends with Catarina long enough to know that even if they'd lost, the Slytherin's would probably have had some sort of party anyway. Once someone had been on a beer run it was a waste not to go all out.

Catarina pounced on him as soon as he stepped through the door, hugging him excitedly while her long, green quidditch robes caught on his clothes.

"We slaughtered them!" She grinned.

Isabelle appeared by her side a moment later, also smiling at Magnus. "Hey," she said. "Nice commentary. If you're wondering, my also very single brother happens to be just over there." She pointed to the door to the boys dormitories, where Alec was stood, watching the celebrations around him uncertainly. One of the chasers pushed a beer into his hand as he passed, and Alec stared at it before taking a sip and pulling a face.

"Told you it was obvious," Ragnor smirked.

"You two are friends now?" Magnus enquired, pointedly ignoring their comments about Alec.

"She's okay, I suppose," Catarina said, though she was smiling.

"Yeah," Izzy agreed. "Although she supports terrible quidditch teams."

"You support American teams," Catarina reminded her. "You can't compare them."

"My brother -

"Yeah, yeah, your brother plays for New York blah blah."

"I'm going to see if I can get us a bunch of tickets to see him play," Izzy grinned. "I'll make the parents get us a fancy hotel or something."

"Wow," Magnus said, taken aback. "So you've been friends for like a day and now we're all going on a trip together?"

"Sure, what's wrong with that?" Catarina asked.

"Don't be such a stick in the mud, Magnus," Izzy smirked. "It'll be fun."

Perplexed, Magnus walked away from them, over to the table that was laden with bottles of alcohol. Magnus really, really didn't know where it had all come from.

"Izzy stole half of it from our parents."

Magnus hadn't heard Alec approach, but he was beside him at the table, apparently reading his thoughts.

"Did you enjoy the game?" Magnus asked, momentarily distracted from the alcohol. He distinctly heard his name spoken by his group of friends, who had found their way over to the sofa's, and he glared over at them.

"Quidditch isn't really my thing," Alec shrugged. "But I'm glad we won."

"Me too," Magnus said, trying to keep his grinning to a minimum. "You know, I could make some interesting cocktails with all this."

"You know how to make cocktails?"

"Self taught, of course," Magnus boasted. "It's not that hard."

None of the glasses in the common room were particularly cocktail-esque, but he'd have to make do. Picking up one of the bottles, Magnus poured a measure of vodka into a glasses. Then he mixed in shots of white rum, gin and tequila before topping up the glass with coke. For lack of anything to stir it with, Magnus pointed his wand at the drink and cast a spell to mix it all together. Then he handed it to Alec.

"That was a lot of alcohol," Alec told him. "Usually it tastes gross to me."

"It's a long island iced tea – minus the triple sec because who even knows what that is? You might like it."

Alec took a sip and sure enough the concoction – though filled with a mixture of spirits, didn't taste unpleasant at all.

* * *

 

Long island iced tea's, Alec decided, were his new favourite thing. It sounded British, because it was tea – but it wasn't tea at all, and it left him with a pleasant, warm feeling that made him feel more relaxed in Magnus' company – in the company of the rest of his house in general – than he had since starting Hogwarts.

Magnus had had several drinks, but he seemed to be much more tolerant of the alcohol, as Alec had only had two before deciding to take a break.

"I hear your brother is a professional quidditch player," Magnus said, knocking their knees together playfully. They were sat side by side on the floor, their backs against the sofa that Isabelle, Catarina and Ragnor took up, and Alec couldn't quite remember when they'd decided to sit there. Still, he pushed Magnus' leg away, laughing when he brushed their knees together again, and kept his hand there for a little longer than was necessary.

"Jace." Alec agreed. "He plays for New York. We say he plays for New York," he corrected. "There are lots of teams in New York, and he plays for one of the less famous ones. But he's good – I think he'll get picked up by someone else. He's adopted." Alec added, unnecessarily.

"I read about him in the papers," Magnus said. "You must miss him."

"I was mad at him," Alec confessed, the honesty spilling out of him. "He stayed and what with Max we – I was just mad at him."

"But you're not any more?"

"No," Alec shrugged. "But I do miss him."

Despite the quidditch match finishing earlier than expected, the hours had passed by quickly once the party started, and several people were more than a little bit drunk. There were people dancing all

around them, wrapped up in each others arms and swaying, and several people were telling bad jokes, or lying on the floor, falling asleep despite the loud music thumping through the room.

"What time is it?" Magnus asked.

"Almost ten."

"Do you want to get up off the floor?"

"I'm not sure," Alec said. "The floor's surprisingly comfy," then he looked at Magnus with something akin to horror. "You're not going to ask me to dance, are you?"

"Calm down," Magnus laughed, "I'd rather keep both our dignities in tact for now."

"Good. I don't dance. Though I danced with a girl once at one of my parents parties, it was terrible. Do you remember that, Iz?" He shouted the words, reaching one arm over the back of the sofa to search for his sister.

"What?" She asked, her head appearing before them. "Why are you two on the floor?"

"Do you remember when I danced with Lydia at mom's party that time? It was terrible, she tried to kiss me and I stood on all her feet."

"All two of them," Izzy confirmed. "You should dance with Magnus."

"We've just established that that is a terrible idea," Magnus told her.

"Here," Izzy produced a glass of water as if by magic – possibly literally by magic, Alec figured - from the other side of the sofa and handed it to her brother, muttering "lightweight," before she turned back around.

"Are you drunk?" Magnus asked.

"I think I'm a little tipsy," Alec confessed, laughing. "Not that drunk though."

"Maybe we really should get off the floor," Magnus repeated. He stood up and offered a hand to Alec, who took it and got to his feet.

"See," he said, looking down at himself proudly. "I'm not drunk."

In all honesty, he didn't feel particularly drunk, just a little jolly – like all the colours were brighter and like he could stay in this moment – the moment where Magnus hadn't let go of his hand after pulling him up – forever.

They stood and looked at each other for a moment, before Magnus cleared his throat and said, "do you want to go somewhere a little more private? I um – I'd like to talk to you."

Although they'd been talking all night, Alec didn't object to this idea, and after downing the glass of water Izzy had given him, he led Magnus by the hand down the corridor and to his dorm room.

"I've never been to the boys dorms before," Magnus whispered as they went. "Although I guess they're pretty much the same as the girls, so."

"Here we are."

Alec opened the door to his dorm, leading him inside.

He went over to his own bed automatically, suddenly extremely self conscious. Somehow, it hadn't occurred to him that leading Magnus to his empty dorm room would mean that he was alone with Magnus, in his empty dorm room.

He sat down on the edge of his bed and Magnus followed, sitting down beside him with barely an inch between them.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Alec asked, chewing nervously on his bottom lip.

"Okay, first can you -" Magnus pointed at his face, and Alec raised an eyebrow at him in confusion. "Can you not do the lip thing because it's really quite distracting."

"Oh," Alec said, stopping. "Sure."

"I – Alec..." Magnus paused. He was looking at Alec in a way that he'd never quite seen before, his expression soft and his eyes gentle and lidded. "I like you." He said at last. "I think you're cute, or hot or whatever. You're sweet and - I'd like to spend more time with you, If you want, instead of us just running into each other all the time."

"I – a boy has never liked me before," Alec said in a rush. "I don't know – I've never -" He took a deep breath.

"It's okay," Magnus said at once, taking his hand again. "No pressure. Just whatever you want."

Alec felt like his heart was beating too fast. Somewhere in the back of his mind was a surge of panic, but mostly all he could think about was the fact that he'd liked Magnus, whether or not he knew it at the time, for a while now, and here he was, offering everything Alec secretly wanted as though it was the easiest thing in the world. It was terrifying and wonderful and Alec wanted nothing more than to say yes to him.

"Okay," he said. "Let's do that."

Magnus' smile was brilliant, and although Alec didn't know much, he knew enough to close his eyes when Magnus leaned towards him, and to wrap an arm around Magnus' waist when he pressed their lips together.

And, he knew, this was so much better than quidditch.


	7. Chapter 7

**_The Lightwoods Sordid Secret._ **

Magnus saw the headline staring up at him from a copy of the Daily Prophet that someone had left on the table in the common room.

It was marked with todays date.

It was only 8.30, and Magnus had reluctantly left his warm bed in order to meet Ragnor at the library. He had no idea why Ragnor wanted to study on a Monday morning of all times – especially when Magnus didn't usually have class until the afternoon, but apparently the quidditch match on Saturday had taken away some of the time he needed to work on his potions essay. Thus, library.

Magnus hadn't been immediately against the idea, having a lot of neglected work himself, but he was put out by the early hour, and the fact that he didn't have time to get a proper breakfast.

All lament about the time however, fled from his mind when his eyes travelled from the Prophet headline down to the picture that was spread across the front page. Rather than Maryse and Robert, the picture was focused on Max. It was obviously an old photograph, and his parents were trying to shield him from the cameras, to little avail.

Wondering why Max would possibly be worthy of front-page attention, Magnus picked up the paper and opened it to the page of the article. He scanned the words quickly, taking in snippets of information - details about what Maryse and Robert did in the US – questions about their integrity – accusations that they were hiding their sons condition – his lycanthropy - that their son was a werewolf.

Magnus stopped reading.

A werewolf.

He glanced around the room, instinctively thinking that he would find Max there, but the common room was mostly empty – his housemates either still in bed or down at breakfast.

It made sense, bizarrely, Magnus realised. His unexplainable scars, him periodically looking sick, Alec's reluctance to tell him what was wrong. Magnus wasn't sure how people would react to the news. Surely it was spreading through the school already, and although there were laws in Britain to protect lycanthropes, not everyone agreed with them – and not everyone liked the Lightwoods to start with.

Reflexively, Magnus dropped the newspaper and walked purposefully back through the passage to the boys dorms. He knocked on the door he knew to be Max's, but there was no reply, and when he nudged the door open he found the room empty.

He was starting to panic a little bit. Had Max seen the paper? Had Alec and Izzy? Had their parents?

Magnus felt like he should be doing something – but there was no one around to talk to, and nothing to be done. Instead, he grabbed the bag he'd abandoned by the table and rushed to the library.

He arrived just as Ragnor was pulling out his books.

"Put those away."

"Um," Ragnor said, looking at him indignantly, "why?"

"You need to talk to the prefects," Magnus told him. The idea had come to him the moment he saw the 'head boy' badge gleaming on Ragnor's robes.

"And again, why?"

"Max Lightwood is a werewolf."

"Huh," Ragnor mused, appearing irritatingly calm, "I wouldn't have guessed that."

Magnus glared at him. "You need to tell people to look out for him."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Ragnor agreed. He put his books back in his bag, and Magnus was immensely grateful. "Don't look so worried, I'm sure he'll be alright."

"Yeah. Probably." Magnus agreed, though the words were tinged with doubt and he fiddled nervously with the strap of his bag while Ragnor got to his feet.

"You're really into Alec, huh?"

"What?" Magnus said defensively. "No – I mean. I haven't seen him since we kissed and -" He paused, shaking his head defiantly. "This isn't about Alec," he corrected. "I'm a prefect!"

"Uh-huh," Ragnor smirked, "come on then, time to hunt down the other twenty."

* * *

 

Alec wasn't in class.

Magnus hadn't seen him all day – not when they pulled the sixth year Slytherin prefect's out of class, or at lunch in the Great Hall. In fact, Magnus realised, he hadn't seen Izzy or Max either.

He sat through the class without really taking in anything Professor Garret said, and by the time the hour had passed he decided to skip Transfiguration altogether in favour of looking for them.

He considered the Slytherin common room but immediately dismissed it, figuring that they wouldn't want to be around so many people. He wracked his brains, trying to think of where someone might go to get away from the bustle of the castle. The astronomy tower perhaps, but it would be hard to sneak up there in the daytime without being seen.

He settled for checking rooms at random – anywhere that he thought was usually abandoned. He even checked the armory, but unsurprisingly it was empty.

The kitchens were his next port of call, and he was immediately greeted by a number of house elves.

"Have you seen any of the Lightwoods?" He asked at once, and was surprised when a number of them started nodding and pointing him towards the back of the kitchens, where he could hear laughter.

"Max?"

Now that he could see around the stoves and pots and pans, he found Max sitting at a small table, eating a plate of doughnuts. There were two other first year boys sat across from him, all staring up at Magnus as he entered. One of the boys looked particularly concerned by his appearance.

Magnus knew he should know their names, but they just wouldn't come to him.

"Hi Magnus," Max said pleasantly. "Want a doughnut?"

"What?" Magnus asked, "no, I – are you okay? I've been looking for you."

"Oh," Max said, apparently surprised by the concern. "I'm fine, we've been hiding out here because – well, I guess you saw."

"He's a werewolf," one of his friends said, giving Magnus a dangerous look that might have made him laugh under other circumstances. "We're looking after him."

"If I knew I'd get to sit in the kitchen's all day I'd have told people ages ago," Max shrugged, though there was a hint of worry in his eyes – obviously his reluctance to go to class wasn't fueled purely by his partiality to doughnuts.

"I've heard a few people talking about it," Magnus told him honestly. "Some people will be dicks for sure, but the prefects are all watching out for you. Not that it looks like you need it," he added, smiling at the group of boys. "You're all set here."

"Yeah," Max smiled. "Have you seen Alec? Izzy said he disappeared after we talked this morning."

"No," Magnus frowned. "I haven't even seen your sister."

"I think she was actually going to go to class later," Max said.

Magnus nodded. "I'll look for Alec," he confirmed. "Any idea where he might be?"

"Not a clue," Max admitted.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay." He smiled again. "And I won't tell anyone that you're all holed up in here eating enough for the whole school."

"Thanks Magnus."

He left, feeling a weight lift from his chest. Max was surprisingly unperturbed by the whole situation.

Still, he had another Lightwood left to track down.

Alec wasn't in the owlry, or the entrance hall, or any of the empty classrooms that Magnus looked in. He silently cursed Hogwarts for being so big and, on a whim walked through the now largely empty Great Hall to check the trophy room.

In his six years at Hogwarts, Magnus had never actually been to the trophy room, but sure enough when he walked in he saw Alec sitting on a window ledge. He had a trophy in one hand and was regarding it with disdain. As Magnus watched, he jumped down from the ledge and discarded the trophy, sitting instead on the old stone bench that was on the other side of the room.

"Alec?"

"What are you doing here?" Alec asked, closing his eyes when Magnus said his name. He looked very tired.

"I've been looking for you," he said, stepping further into the room, "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Magnus couldn't quite make out his face in the dim light, but he thought that the question only served to make Alec look more pained.

"I saw Max," he tried then, crossing the room and sitting down beside Alec. "He seems to be doing well – he was with his friends."

Alec nodded and said, "he's tough."

"You all are," Magnus told him. He reached out to Alec, trying to take his hand, but it was immediately pulled away.

"Don't."

"Okay..." Magnus said slowly. "I'm sorry."

"You can't just come in here pretending like everything fine and – trying to – whatever you're doing. Just because we kissed doesn't mean you know anything about me, or my family." He stood up, facing away from Magnus.

"Alexander, I'm not trying to do anything," Magnus told him firmly. "I wanted to make sure you're alright, but if you'd rather I leave..."

"I didn't say that," Alec snapped, rounding on him. "I'm just so mad."

"I know." Magnus told him, attempting a smile. Honestly, this is not how he expected the conversation to go. He thought that Alec would be glad to see him, but clearly he wasn't, and Magnus momentarily regretted spending so long looking for him. Then he looked at the sadness and fear evident on his face, and the thought disappeared as quickly as it had come. "Look, why don't you sit down and you can tell me about it," Magnus suggested. "Or we can just sit – whatever you want."

"...Fine," Alec agreed hesitantly. He perched on the edge of the bench, as far from Magnus as he could get. He didn't speak for a moment, but when he did everything came out all at once.

"The guy who told the papers about Max was a healer – can you believe that? But it had to be – no one else knew. I don't even know if it was an accident, what happened to him – or if it was on purpose. And there was nothing we could do. My parents used to hate people like him, anyone who was different, but they love Max. So they moved us here, because no one knows us and it'll be better for him, he'll still be able to have a normal life. Izzy says the move was more about them running away from their problems but I don't know – I think it was for Max too. But now everyone knows and it's going to be even harder for him – it's not fair. He's just a kid."

He paused to take a breath and push his hair out of his eyes.

"I'm just so mad at everyone – my parents haven't replied to the letter we sent this morning – neither has Jace. He's probably too busy with Quidditch and his girlfriend to care about what's going on here – and – I'm so mad at myself for being mad at everyone. Magnus -"

He turned, his stormy eyes searching Magnus' for understanding.

"I feel like I should have been able to stop it."

"Stop what?" Magnus asked, "people finding out?"

Alec shook his head. "Stop it from happening in the first place. I was sleeping, and if I'd just have woken up a minute earlier, if I'd have done things differently that night... My parents are so disappointed, I know it. I'm the oldest, I'm supposed to – to be more like Jace. To be strong and to have the career and the girl – carry on the family name, their legacy."

"Alec, you're not a disappointment." Magnus insisted. It was a lot to take in – everything that had come pouring out of him, and Magnus felt overwhelmed. "You can't keep everyone safe all the time, that's just not how it works."

"I know," Alec sighed. "I hate it."

"As for the job and girl..."

Alec pulled a face. "I shouldn't have said that."

"You just need to find what you love," Magnus shrugged. "So you're not into quidditch – you're good at plenty of other things. You need to do what's best for you."

Alec was silent for a moment, and Magnus watched him as he obviously mulled things over in his mind. A moment later, he turned his whole body towards Magnus, smiling weakly. "I'm sorry about what I said when you came in."

"It's okay."

He paused again, seemingly considering what to do or say next. Magnus watched him curiously and was pleasantly surprised when he moved closer to him on the bench. "I – um, I had a good time on Saturday."

"Me too," Magnus smiled.

The silence returned until Alec placed his hand cautiously on top of Magnus,' linking their fingers together.

"Is stuff like this always so awkward?" Alec asked, a hint of laughter edging his words.

"Only when precluded by so much angst," Magnus teased, and Alec groaned, leaning his head against Magnus' shoulder in embarrassment.

"We can just forget all about that," he said, looking back up.

"Nah," Magnus argued. "It's important to you."

"Max was really doing okay earlier?" He asked.

"He really was," Magnus said, squeezing his hand reassuringly.

The day had passed in a blur of running to and fro, worrying about the Lightwoods and paying absolutely no attention in class, and now Magnus could hear the faint sound of students starting to trickle into the Great Hall for dinner. It was getting late.

"As much as I'd like to stay down here in the dark with you," Magnus said, "how about we go upstairs and get some dinner before too many people come in and wonder what we've been getting up to down here, if you know what I'm saying."

A sharp huff of laughter escaped from Alec, and when Magnus turned to him, he was blushing faintly.

"Yeah," he said, shaking his head. "Let's do that."

"It'll be okay," Magnus reiterated as they stood, and Alec nodded, looking at him with a certainty that hadn't been there before.

He believed it, Magnus realised, at least a little bit. And that was because Magnus had believed it too.


	8. Chapter 8

Magnus, Catarina and Ragnor commandeered their favourite table at The Three Broomsticks - it was the table by the far window, tucked away in the corner, and it had become their favourite specifically because it allowed them to see all the way around the room and take note of the comings and goings of their classmates.

"He's got that look on his face again," Catarina whispered to Ragnor as Magnus looked over at the bar.

"He's stuck like that," Ragnor told her, frowning at Magnus. "He's been that way all week."

"I can hear you, you know," Magnus said, rolling his eyes at them.

"Can you?" Catarina mocked. She held up one hand and waved it in front of his face. "Earth to Magnus; can you take your eyes off that boy for two seconds?"

"Your beer's getting warm," Ragnor added.

Dragging his attention away from the bar – and more specifically Alec Lightwood, who was leaning against said bar with his back to Magnus – he picked up his beer and drank half of it, nodding purposefully at his friends.

"So, what's the deal with Alec?" Catarina prompted. "You're all puppy eyes over him but aren't actually talking to him."

"We've talked. We've talked a lot," Magnus said, staring at Alec dreamily. "I think I'm in love."

"Oh Merlin," Ragnor groaned.

"In love?" Catarina repeated incredulously. "Are you even dating?"

"Not officially," Magnus said defensively. "Thinks have been a little... slow, but -"

"Have you even kissed since the quidditch party?" Catarina asked.

"That is none of your business."

"That's a no, then," Ragnor said, "he'd tell us about it otherwise – at length."

"Truth." Catarina finished her own drink, then she dragged her chair closer to Magnus' and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you really sure about him?"

"Yes," Magnus said, "he's sweet. You didn't like Izzy before you got to know her but now you're friends – what makes you think there's anything wrong with me liking Alexander?"

"You kind of hated him yourself a couple of weeks ago," Ragnor told him reasonably. "Plus you don't really know much about him."

"I do!" Magnus protested. "Did I mention all the talking?"

"Magnus," Catarina said, patting him sympathetically. "His parents are conservatives. Do you really think he knows how to meet your needs?"

"Oh my god."

"I'm just saying."

"Please stop talking to me," Magnus said, putting his hands over his ears. "You're the worst friends ever."

"We're just looking out for you."

"He likes me," Magnus said, suddenly feeling less confident about the fact. He and Alec had done nothing more than hold hands for the past week – but that didn't mean anything, he reminded himself firmly. He had absolutely no interest in pressuring Alec to do anything he wasn't comfortable with; Catarina was being ridiculous. "In fact," he said decisively, "I'm going to buy him a drink."

He stood up amongst to the sounds of half hearted cheers from his friends and crossed the room until he was stood beside Alec at the bar.

"Hey."

"Oh," Alec said, turning to him. "Hi." He smiled, and Magnus was once against reminded of how totally in love he was with his stupid, adorable face.

"Do you want a drink?" Magnus asked boldly.

"Oh," Alec repeated. He looked around warily. His sister was nearby, but she was distracted by a conversation with a Ravenclaw boy who was laughing nervously and looking at her like he couldn't quite believe she was talking to him at all.

"Aren't you with your friends?" He asked hesitantly.

"I'm disowning them," Magnus told him. "They're both terrible people."

Alec smiled again.

Magnus stared at his mouth for an extended period of time, trying to remember what it was like to kiss him, before finally shaking himself out of it. "So, drink?" He prompted.

"Yeah, okay." Alec agreed.

Magnus ordered them another butterbeer each and they huddled together at a small, rickety table by the door.

"Your sister seems to be enjoying herself," Magnus smirked, watching as Izzy put her hand on the Ravenclaw's chest, laughing at something he said.

"His name is Simon," Alec said in distaste, "I'm not so sure about him."

The conversation was so reminiscent of the one he'd just left that Magnus almost laughed. "He looks fairly inoffensive," Magnus shrugged.

"Hmm." He continued to watch them for a moment, before taking a sip of his beer and turning back to Magnus. "I like Hogsmede," he said, "we never had anywhere like this to go at Ilvermorny."

"Really?" Magnus asked, "have you been to Zonko's yet?"

"Yeah," Alec grinned. "We were there with Max earlier – I bought him a fanged frisbee. I hope it doesn't get confiscated," he added as an afterthought.

"I'm a prefect," Magnus reminded him. "I can get It back."

"You can?"

"Everything that gets confiscated just ends up in a box somewhere unless it's dangerous," Magnus shrugged. "I suggested to Ragnor that we auction some of it off but apparently that's 'against school rules' or something boring."

"Terrible," Alec laughed. "Maybe you'll be head boy next year, and you can break as many rules as you like."

"Are you serious?" Magnus asked, "as if they'd let me be head boy."

"You're a prefect," Alec reasoned, "and Max is pretty taken with you. I think you'd make a great head boy."

Magnus was quiet for a moment, surprised by the affirmation. Once again affection for the boy in front of him filled his mind, and he subtly brushed his and Alec's knees together under the table.

"Can I ask you something?" He said.

Alec's eyes widened as he took another sip of his beer – Magnus' tone had changed slightly and the words, he knew, were usually followed by something serious.

"Go ahead."

Magnus considered him carefully, before he took a deep breath and asked, "do you want to be my boyfriend?"

"Err-" Alec stared at him, his blue eyes bright but cloudy with a hesitancy that made Magnus' heart fall.

"Wow Magnus, what on earth are you doing?" The words came not from Alec, but from someone that Magnus hadn't even noticed – stood directly behind him was Raphael Santiago, a fifth year Slytherin prefect. "Or should I say who?" Raphael laughed at his own joke, patting Magnus on the back jovially.

"Raphael, this is really not the time," Magnus hissed, glancing back at the younger boy.

"I'll say," he said, shaking his head, "I really wish I hadn't seen this. I'm traumatised."

"We're just sat here," Magnus argued.

"Gazing into each other eyes. I may puke."

The sharp sound of a chair scraping across the floor caused Magnus to swallow his retort, and he turned around to see Alec standing up quickly. "I should go," he said, glancing at Magnus apologetically. "I – um – I should just go."

"Alec."

But it was too late. Before Magnus could do anything to stop him, Alec stuffed his hands into his pockets and fled. He didn't even look back at Magnus as he pushed through the door and out into the cold.

Grinning to himself, Raphael took the seat he'd just vacated.

"Probably for the best," he said, smiling a charming smile that made Magnus was to reach across the table and slap him. "Are you going to buy me a drink or what?"

"No," Magnus said. "You just ruined – well, everything." He glared at Raphael in frustration.

He'd thought that Catarina and Ragnor were terrible for teasing him earlier, but clearly he'd be wrong. Raphael Santiago was his least favourite person in the entire world, and if the boy of his dreams didn't want to date him it would all be entirely Raphael's fault.

Of course, the interruption had meant that Magnus didn't get an answer to his question at all.

"I'll have a beer when you're ready." Raphael smirked.


	9. Chapter 9

It was Sunday – the day after his first trip to Hogsmede – and Alec was sat cross legged on his bed, staring hopelessly at his half written potions essay. Most of his roommates had elected to go to the village today instead of Saturday, so Alec was alone, and no matter how hard he tried to concentrate his mind kept wandering back to the hurt in Magnus' eyes when he'd rushed out of the pub the day before. It hadn't been intentional – not by any means – he'd simply panicked.

He'd considered seeking Magnus out later in the evening, but he felt embarrassed and awkward and completely out of his depth. He liked Magnus a lot, and he had no real experience of liking someone before – not someone who actually liked him back. The whole thing was scary and fraught with tension and pauses and the brushing of hands that made him lose his breath.

He tapped his quill incessantly against his parchment, not noticing the blotch of ink that was spreading across the page.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Alec called. He wasn't expecting anyone, so when his little brother stepped through the door, his face screwed up in anger, Alec's mind immediately jumped to a list of terrible things that could have happened to him, and he got to his feet. "Max, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that you're an idiot," his brother told him, sounding more like Izzy that Alec ever remembered noticing before.

"Erm."

"What did you do to Magnus?" He demanded, folding his arms across his chest and regarding Alec suspiciously.

"What? I didn't do anything."

This only served to make Max more frustrated. "He was sat in the same spot staring into space and eating everything all of last night," Max stated pointedly. "And when I left the common room the morning he was led on the floor with The Chairman, throwing parchment into the fire."

"Oh," Alec said. He considered Max, somewhat surprised by his concern, before he perched on the edge of his bed, staring blankly at his hands.

Had what he'd done really upset Magnus that much?

"Alec," Max said more gently, coming to sit beside him on the bed, "For some reason he's like, painfully into you. Don't you like him back?"

"Yes," Alec said, glancing sideways at his little brother. "I just – I don't know what I'm doing. I feel so –" He shook his head. "You wouldn't understand."

"I wouldn't?" Max repeated incredulously. "Hello," he said, gesturing to himself, "werewolf here. I get it; you're scared what people will think. But half of it's probably in your head – It's just what mom and dad have told you."

"When did you get so wise?" Alec asked, reaching out to ruffle his brother's hair. Then he said, "he was really that upset?"

"He's pretty much in love with you," Max confirmed.

"Love?" Alec repeated. "I doubt that," he sighed. "He asked me to be his boyfriend and I kind of ran away."

Max stared at him in disbelief.

"I know."

"Well, do you want to go out with him?"

"Yes," Alec said, surprising himself with the certainty. "I really do."

"Then you should go and sort it out with him," Max instructed.

Suddenly determined, Alec nodded, getting to his feet decisively. "You're right," he said. "Thanks Max."

"What would you do without me?" His little brother grinned.

* * *

 

Everyone turned to stare at him as he burst into the Hufflepuff common room, but Alec firmly reminded himself that he didn't care. He scanned the room, but there was no sign of Magnus. Avoiding making eye contact with any of the curious Hufflepuff's, he crossed the room and slipped down the passage that led to the boys dormitories. Magnus' was towards the end of the corridor, and Alec rubbed his hands together apprehensively as he approached. Once he reached the right room, he knocked loudly on the door, rocking back on his heels as he waited.

There was no answer.

Tentatively, he reached for the door handle, not expecting it to turn, but to his surprise the door gave way when he pushed, allowing him to step instead.

Given that no one had answered the door, he was half expecting to find the room empty, but that wasn't the case at all. Magnus was sat cross legged on his bed, running his hands through Chairman Meow's fur, who was curled up on his pillow. Beside him sat Ragnor. Both of them turned to stare at Alec when he appeared in the doorway.

"Usually when someone doesn't answer the door it means they want to be left alone," Ragnor frowned.

"Magnus," Alec said, ignoring the reprimand. "I'm sorry."

Magnus looked up at him, and Alec realised for the first time that he was still wearing his pajama's – a button down top and pants made of a silky material with a zig-zag pattern all across the front. The sight made Alec smile.

"Well he's heard that before -" Ragnor paused. "Maybe – have you?"

"It's okay," Magnus told him. "Give us a minute."

Reluctantly, Ragnor stood up and Alec stepped further into the room to allow him to pass.

"I should have come last night," Alec said when he'd shut the door behind him.

"Yeah."

"I – Max told me how upset you were and it made me realise that I've been an idiot."

"Again, I'm not going to disagree," Magnus said. There was a small smile creeping onto his face, and Alec took it is a sign to continue.

"I'd like to be your boyfriend." He said boldly, "and if you still want to go out with me too then I'd quite like to kiss you."

"Oh," Magnus said, clearly surprised. Then his expression gave way to a brilliant smile, and Alec felt his breath hitch when Magnus said. "Okay."

Alec closed the distance between them and Magnus stood up to meet him. They were only inches apart and Alec could feel Magnus' breath against his cheek, could smell his sandalwood shampoo. Magnus didn't move – waiting for Alec to make the first move. The realisation was simultaneously incredibly sweet and terrifying.

Nervously, Alec leant forward, pressing a gentle kiss to Magnus' lips. It only lasted for a second, but Alec felt as though a bolt of electricity passed between them, setting all his nerves on fire. Magnus was slightly taller than him, and when Alec reached up to cup his face in one hand, he leant into the touch, closing his eyes. Alec kissed him again, letting Magnus guide his actions as he paused to take a breath, before crashing their lips together. It was intoxicating – kissing Magnus. Now that he'd started, Alec didn't think he'd ever be able to stop. He wasn't sure when they'd pressed their bodies so close together, or when his hand had ended up wedged in between their chests, but he felt as though every kiss – every touch of their bodies against one enough – was the greatest thing he'd ever felt.

Eventually, Magnus stopped him – gently putting his hand against Alec's chest and pushing him away. Initially, Alec panicked, wondering if he'd done something wrong, but when he opened his eyes it was to see Magnus still smiling at him.

"I have bed head," Magnus said apologetically. "And probably terrible breath."

Alec thought the ruffled hair was a rather a good look on him, and wouldn't have protested more kissing at all, but he laughed quietly at the comment.

"I need to get dressed," Magnus said firmly. "But then we could do something?" His eyes were bright and hopefully, and Alec wondered distantly why he'd ever let him down. He vowed not to do so again.

"We could go back to Hogsmede,"Alec suggested. "On a date. If you want."

"I'd like that," Magnus grinned. "I'll meet you in the entrance hall in an hour."

"Okay." Alec agreed. "Great!" He couldn't seem to stop smiling, ad Magnus shook his head at him in an amused sort of way.

"Okay," he repeated. "Send Ragnor back in will you, he's probably lurking out there."

Alec turned to leave, and sure enough found Ragnor just outside the door. Alec briefly worried that he'd heard their conversation, or guessed what it had led to – but he wouldn't care, Alec reminded himself. It wasn't a big deal.

He left the common room feeling happier than he could remember being in a very long time.

* * *

 

Magnus was an idiot.

He'd been so happy from Alec agreeing to be his boyfriend, from the kissing and the fact that Alec had held his hand all the way into he village despite them passing several other people, that he'd momentarily thought it would be a good idea to take him to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.

Why he'd entertained the idea at all was a mystery to Magnus, but now that they were stuffed into a booth in the café and Alec was glancing around in horror, he realised he may have made a terrible mistake.

Alec tapped his fingers anxiously against the edge of the table as they waited for their drinks.

"So," Magnus said.

The uncertainty that Alec inspired in him was astounding. Usually if he went on dates he had no trouble thinking up a topic of conversation, but despite knowing Alec for a while now, Magus found his mind suddenly empty.

It didn't help that his gaze kept lingering on Alec's lips, remembering what had happened that morning.

"I like your jacket," Alec told him, "all the," he made a vague motion near his shoulders, "tassely things."

"Thank you," Magnus smiled. "It's just something I found in a thrift store."

"It's fancy."

A waitress brought their drinks over – a latte for Magnus and a regular coffee for Alec. She also brought over a single rose, and placed it pointedly in the vase on the table between them.

Magnus wished the ground would swallow him up.

"Um," Alec said. He reached out for the vase and moved it to one side, so that they could actually see each other again. "So what are you doing for Christmas?" He asked.

"Just staying here," Magnus replied, jumping on the opportunity to talk about something not related to the rose or other cheesy romantic decorations scattered around them.

"Do your friends stay too?"

"Ragnor's going away to see some family this year," Magnus told him, "but Catarina will be around."

"It's nice that you have them," Alec said. "I'm not sure if they like me so much."

"They like you just fine," Magnus told him. "Don't worry."

"I hope so." Alec picked up his coffee, blowing gently on the hot liquid.

Magnus averted his gaze and found his attention caught by a couple a few tables over. Their voices were slightly raised and the woman was pointing angrily at the man across the table.

Having followed his line of sight, Alec turned around in his seat, watching the commotion for himself.

"You're a bastard!" The woman shouted, drawing the attention of the rest of the café. She stood up furiously. "I hope a billywig eats your eyeballs!"

Magnus bit back laughter, which only grew more difficult when the woman grabbed her half finished milkshake and emptied it over her – evidently ex - boyfriend's head, before storming out.

"That's not even what billywigs do!" The man shouted after her, standing up as he dripped strawberry milkshake onto the floor. "They're poisonous – like you!"

He looked around helplessly, and most of the onlookers averted their gaze. Then, straightening his tie to try and regain some form of dignity, he pulled out his wand and cast a spell to remove the gloopy mixture from his hair and clothes. With a calmness completely at odds with the situation, he left.

"Wow," Magnus said, turning back to Alec, who met his gaze with a wide-eyed expression.

"Straight people are so dramatic," he sighed, before picking up his coffee and taking another sip.

"Oh my god," Magnus said, and started laughing. Alec watched him curiously, grinning over the top of his coffee cup.

"Come on," Magnus said, once he'd caught his breath. "Let's get out of this place; it's terrible."

"It's entertaining at least."

Magnus just shook his head, "come on," he repeated, grabbing his coat and abandoned his mostly un-drunk coffee. He squeezed through the spaces in between the crammed tables, Alec following.

They emerged into the street to see that the skies had turned white, and a light scattering of snow had covered the pavements.

"Snow," Alec said unnecessarily, holding out his hand to catch the flakes in his palm. "Cool."

"Cold," Magnus corrected, pulling up the collar of his coat. "Hey, I have an idea."

Alec looked at him expectantly.

Magnus dug his wand out of his pocket and held a hand out to Alec. "It involves apparating," he said.

Alec regarded him with suspicion. "Are we allowed to do that?"

"I'm a prefect," Magnus shrugged. "So sure. Besides, we're not going far."

Alec took his hand, and in an instance they'd left behind the street outside Madam Puddifoots.

* * *

 

Alec had no idea where Magnus might be taking him, so when he opened his eyes he was surprised to see Hogwarts still looming in the distance.

He glanced around to see that they were stood on an island – high enough above water level to be able to see the lake spreading out all around them, and the stretch of land where the castle and Hogsmede gave way to miles of empty fields.

"Look," Magnus said, pointing to the mountains in the distance. "It must have been snowing for hours up there."

"Have you been here before?" Alec asked, "it's... amazing."

"A few times," Magnus replied. "To get away from everything, you know?"

"Yeah, I can see that."

They stood there for a moment, simply looking out across the lake and feeling the cold brush of snowflakes against their faces.

Then Magnus stepped forward, wrapping his arm around Alec's waist. "I'm glad we did this," he said, tugging him closer.

"Me too."

The snow continued to fall, turning their hair white and creating a cloud around the distant castle. Alec looked out towards it, his vision blurred by the rapid onset of winter weather. Still, he didn't feel particularly cold – not when Magnus' arms were around him.


	10. Chapter 10

Magnus and Alec were in the Hufflepuff common room working on their Defense Against The Dark Arts homework. It was getting late, and the light was fading, leaving the room with a dim, honey coloured glow.

Alec glanced at his watch.

"It's almost sunset," he said.

"Is Izzy meeting you there?"

"Yeah." He glanced out of the window, considering the setting sun. "It never gets any less weird."

Magnus took his hand, squeezing it gently. "He'll be fine, the potion always works."

"I know," Alec said, shrugging his shoulders. "But it doesn't stop how much it hurts him to change. I can only imagine what it's like for people who can't afford the potion."

Magnus nodded sadly. Despite the fact that werewolves had become much less stigmatised since the Second Wizarding War, the ingredients for wolfsbane remained ludicrously expensive, and due to its extremely volatile and complicated recipe, it was near impossible to brew without an expert. If Alec's parents weren't so well off, the consequences of Max's lycanthropy would surely be much more difficult to manage.

"Don't think about it," Magnus said gently. "Max will be fine; he always is."

"Yeah," Alec said, managing a small smile. "You're right." He glanced at his watch again and sure enough a moment later, Max appeared in the doorway to the common room. He looked pale and slightly unsteady on his feet, and gave his brother a meaningful look before disappearing again.

"I'd better go," Alec said. He leant forwards and kissed Magnus gently on the lips, something he had started doing in the past few weeks – despite the number of other people who could easily see them.

"I'll see you in the morning," Magnus said, "try and get some sleep."

He watched as Alec left the room, following his younger brother. Magnus worried about them, although he knew that Max was always sure to take his potion in the week leading to the full moon, and that once he'd transformed, the potion rendered him perfectly aware of himself. Still, he worried. Alec and Isabelle always went with him to the room of requirement, where the headmistress had deemed it safe for him to transform, and although Magnus had only been aware of Max's condition for the past two full moons, he found it very difficult to sleep on those nights. He wondered fleetingly how his parents felt, knowing that they may very well be the cause of his condition.

He quickly pushed the thought away. The idea of meeting Maryse and Robert sat uneasily with him, though he considered it an inevitability, given how close he had grown to their son.

He gathered up his half-finished homework along with the parchment that Alec had abandoned beside him and shoved it all into his bag, hoping that when that day came, Maryse and Robert, like their children, would surprise him.

* * *

The following day was Friday - the last day of classes until after the month long Christmas break, so when potions let out at 3 o clock, Magnus joined the throng of students who were filtering out into the grounds to enjoy the freshly fallen snow. Most of the student body would be travelling home the next day, so Magnus was eager to spend the time he had left with Alec before he was whisked away for Christmas with his family.

Magnus spotted him with his sister down by the lake. He made his way towards them, laughing as he watched the antics of a number of students who were trying to skate on the frozen lake. "I hope the giant squid doesn't try to break through and grab them," he said, sitting on the blanket that someone had draped over the bench.

"How sweet of you to be concerned," Izzy smirked. "Happy end of term!"

"You too," Magnus grinned. "How's Max?"

"Good – he's with his friends."

"Iz," Alec said, interrupting them, "look."

He pointed out across the lake, where a bunch of Ravenclaw's were holding onto each other in an attempt not to fall over on the ice. One of them was waving at Isabelle, urging her to join them.

"Simon," she laughed, waving back at him.

"Are you guys dating yet?" Magnus asked.

"Nah," Izzy shrugged. "A girls got to keep her options open, Magnus."

"Of course," Alec said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh hush," Izzy smiled. "Just because you two are all coupled up – now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and show these losers how it's done."

She stood up and walked out across the lake, easily staying on her feet as she skidded over to the Ravenclaws.

"How does she do that?" Magnus asked, impressed.

Alec just shrugged.

"I wish I could stay here over Christmas," he said instead. "With you."

"Me too," Magnus said, "but you'll get to see Jace at least, right?"

"Yeah."

"Come on," Magnus said, nudging him in the side. "It's the end of term, you're not allowed to be mopey." He stood up, offering a gloved hand to Alec and raising an eyebrow at him.

"You've got to be kidding me," Alec said, leaning away from him. "I'm not going out there."

Magnus looked over his shoulder at the lake, where even more people had gathered – holding onto each other to stay upright and laughing.

"It'll be fun."

"Stop looking at me like that."

"Come onnnn," Magnus repeated. He reached down and grabbed Alec's hands, pulling him to his feet.

"Magnus!"

Alec fell against him, and Magnus took the opportunity to step backwards, onto the lake.

"You're the worst boyfriend ever," Alec declared, trying to keep his balance while he held firmly onto Magnus for support.

"Oh, so you don't want your Christmas present then?" Magnus teased.

"That's not fair." Alec retorted. He grinned up at Magnus, a mischievous look in his eye, and the next thing Magnus knew, Alec had let go of him, pushing him backwards into the crowd of people.

Surprisingly, Alec managed to keep his balance for long enough to retreat to the edge of the lake, while Magnus wobbled dangerously. He stuck his arms out to his sides, trying to keep his balance, but it was no use – a young Gryffindor skated into his side, and the next thing Magnus knew he was face down on the ice, only just managing to reach out in time to break his fall.

Looking up, he saw his boyfriend laughing at him from the bench they'd shared earlier.

"No presents," Magnus reiterated, shouting at him over the voices of their fellow students. "You're the worst Alec Lightwood."

It wasn't true, of course. Magnus thought the sight of him sat in the snow, Slytherin scarf wrapped around his neck and face flushed with colour, was really quite wonderful.

* * *

 

That evening after dinner, they exchanged presents.

Magnus was nervous.

Alec was in his dorm room, sat beside him on the bed with a carefully wrapped package in one hand, and Magnus was suddenly unsure whether what he'd got him was any good at all. Presents were difficult considering his limited budget, and Magnus had stressed about what to get for some time before finally coming to a decision.

"Here," Alec grinned, handing him the present and watching him eagerly. "Open it!"

Magnus took the gift, ripping open the shiny red paper to reveal grey material underneath - a t-shirt. Magnus unfolded the shirt, holding it up to inspect the design. A smile instantly broke out across his face when he did so. The shirt featured the outline of a cat, and across the middle were the words "my cat made me do it," in a bold, black font. It was incredibly cheesy, and exactly the sort of thing that Magnus would wear.

"Do you like it?" Alec asked nervously. "I wasn't sure about getting you clothes but-

"It's perfect," Magnus said. "Or should I say purr-fect."

"You really shouldn’t," Alec said, shaking his head at him. He was grinning though. "There's something else in there too."

Puzzled, Magnus picked up the discarded paper from the floor, and sure enough another small gift fell into his hand. At first, Magnus thought it was jewelry, but upon further inspection he saw that it was in fact a cat collar. It was deep blue in colour, with jewels around the edges and embellished on a silver tag were the words "Chairman Meow."

"I didn't want to neglect The Chairman," Alec smiled.

Magnus turned to him, filled with affection at the gesture. "You're adorable," he said, kissing Alec. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Okay," Magnus said. He picked up Alec's present and handed it to him. "It's nothing special but I just thought – I don't know, it might be nice."

Alec opened the present eagerly, and Magnus watched as he revealed the photo frame that he'd wrapped that morning.

He flipped it around and there was the photo that Magnus had chosen – one that he'd taken of them on their first date – stood close together overlooking the lakes around Hogwarts. Magnus watched as the version of himself in the picture grinned back at them, laughing and wrapping his arm around Alec, who was watching him with a nervous smile.

"I forgot you'd taken this," Alec said quietly. "It seems so long ago."

"It was only a month ago," Magnus laughed.

"Yeah, but it feels like things have changed so much since then. For the better."

"I hope so." Magnus smiled. "So you like it?"

"Of course I do."

"You can put it by your bed for when you miss me over Christmas."

Alec blinked at him, a light blush creeping up his neck.

"Oh," Magnus said, realising what he'd just said. "I didn't mean that – although I mean – the idea isn't an unpleasant one."

"Wow," Alec said. "I'll – er – bare that in mind."

"Yep," Magnus said. They stared at each other for a moment before Magnus started laughing, the sound escaping him in sharp bursts.

It was infectious, and soon Alec was laughing too.

"I'm going to miss you," he said, once they had both managed to catch their breath. He reached forward and put one hand on the back of Magnus' neck, pulling him gently forwards. "I don't want to go home."

"I know," Magnus said.

He closed the distance between them, capturing Alec's lips in a kiss.

"You'll be okay," he insisted between kisses. "I'll miss you too."

* * *

 

Alec woke up early the next morning. Usually on Saturday's there would be an eerie quiet for most of the morning as his housemates enjoyed not having to get up early for class. Today however, there was the noise of movement all around him. People were dragging their luggage out of the dorms and down to the entrance hall, saying goodbye to their housemates and running back and forth to retrieve forgotten items.

Alec was glad he was all packed and didn't have to spend the morning trying to organise everything in a hurry.

He met Izzy in the common room, saying goodbye to the girls in her dormitory. She raised an eyebrow when she saw him.

"Ready for this shit show?" She asked.

"Totally," Alec replied.

"At least we get to see Jace," she shrugged. "Although I'm sure you'll be lost without lover boy."

"Shut up," he responded, pushing her away from him affectionately.

"I'm only teasing," Izzy said, "I'm proud of you, Alec."

Alec smiled, surprised by her sudden seriousness. "Thanks."

They made their way down to the entrance hall together, where carriages were waiting to take them to Hogsmede station. Just before Alec closed the door to their carriage, Max appeared, lugging his suitcase behind him. He clambered up into the carriage with them and soon enough they were off – leaving behind the castle for what Alec was sure would be a long two weeks at home.

Still, he had Izzy and Max, and the promise of Jace's visit after not seeing his best friend in almost three months. They'd be together and they'd have a house full of lavish decorations and a plenty of presents under a glittering Christmas tree.

He'd miss Magnus, but his family weren't all that bad.


	11. Chapter 11

Alec thought things might be awkward with Jace around. They hadn't seen each other since the move, and despite being in his near constant company since the age of ten, the concept of him felt painfully foreign to Alec. While he, Izzy and Max had travelled hundreds of mile to start at a new school, Jace wasn't in school at all. He'd left at the age of sixteen to pursue a quidditch career, and now lived in an expensive apartment with his girlfriend, Clary. It all seemed so grown up and surreal that Alec half expected a completely different person to walk through the door when his adopted brother visited them for Christmas.

Thankfully, his worries turned out to be completely unfounded.

The Jace that apparated to their house from the Ministry was exactly the same Jace he'd left behind – quick to embrace his family and easy going in a way that Alec still somewhat envied. He came with stories of his quidditch friends, his laughter familiar and soon enough, it was as though they'd never been separated at all.

He arrived on Christmas eve, and dinner was laid out for all the family to share – talking unusually freely as Jace's presence served as a momentary distraction from any tension that had been there since Alec, Izzy and Max had returned from school. Everyone was so happy to see him that it wasn't until much later in the evening that Alec got a chance to talk to him alone.

They were sharing a bedroom – twin beds set side by side in the room that had been designated Alec's when they moved. He didn't feel any particular claim to the room however – having only slept there for a few weeks before they left for Hogwarts. Having Jace there was nice – making him feel the most at home he had since the Christmas holidays started.

"Who's this?" Jace asked curiously, picking up the photo frame that was standing on Alec's bedside table.

Alec instinctively grabbed the photo out of his hand. "No one," he said hurriedly, opening the nearest drawer and shoving the photo inside. "Just – someone from school."

"You look happy," Jace said. He sat down on the bed on the far side of the room and started getting changed. "Hogwarts has grown on you then? You didn't sound too sure in your letters."

Turning his back on Jace, Alec pulled off his jumper, digging around in his chest of drawers for a pajama top.

"It's not as bad as I thought," he admitted.

"That's good."

They finished getting changed in silence, and once they'd climbed into bed Alec whispered "nox," under his breath, distinguishing the light.

He led there for a few long minutes, listening to the sound of Jace's breathing. He wanted to tell him about Magnus – he really did. It wasn't that Jace didn't know he liked boys, more a feeling of unease at

how he might take the reality of his best friend being with one. It was stupid, and they were brothers in every way that mattered, but Alec couldn't help but remember the awkward crush he'd had on Jace when they were younger, and wonder uncomfortably whether he'd known.

"I was scared to come here, you know." Jace said, breaking the silence that had stretched between them.

Alec blinked, staring towards him in the dark, though all he could make out was the vague shape of his body under the bedcovers.

"Why?"

"I guess I was worried that things would have changed – that you'd all have moved on."

"Jace," Alec whispered, shocked at the admission. "You're the one who's moved on – you're going to be this big star and I'm just... at school."

"Don't be stupid," Jace said lightly. "Sure I'm playing quidditch but I'm where I've always been. I wondered for a long time whether I should have come with you – I still do, sometimes. I love Clary but it's terrifying to be living with her, and – I didn't want to abandon Max. The opportunity was just -

"It's not your fault." Alec told him firmly. This wasn't the conversation he'd expected to have, but he realised he'd never looked at things from Jace's perspective before. He'd been mad at him for staying in New York for quidditch – for Clary – but he'd never considered how having his family move to a completely different country might have affected him. "You did the right thing," he told Jace.

He paused, and when Jace didn't do anything to fill the silence he added, "someone told me recently that you have to do what's best for you. Even if it seems like it might make things harder."

"That sounds like good advice."

"Yeah," Alec agreed.

He heard a shuffling sound as Jace turned towards him in the dark, clearly waiting for him to say more, but not wanting to push him into it.

"His name is Magnus," Alec said eventually. "The boy in the picture."

He paused again, taking a breath. "He's my boyfriend."

"Do your parents know?"

"No," Alec said, laughing at the mere idea. "You know how they are."

"Well, thanks for telling me." Jace said, and Alec thought that he meant it. "He looked... handsome?" He suggested. "From the three seconds I had before you grabbed the picture off me."

"Don't be weird," Alec said, smiling. "He looked handsome, who says that?"

"I'm being supportive!"

Alec laughed again, staring up at the dark ceiling above his bed. He'd really, truly missed Jace.

"Thanks," he said at last, smiling at his brother. "Really."

* * *

 

Magnus was sleeping in Catarina's dorm. All her roommates had gone home for the holidays, and with Ragnor also off on a trip with his family it seemed silly for them to stay in completely separate parts of the castle.

Magnus would have rather stayed in the Hufflepuff dorms than under the lake, but Catarina had told him in no uncertain terms that the boys dorms smelled weird, and that she wouldn't stay there.

They slept in late on Christmas morning – Catarina's family didn't traditionally celebrate Christmas, and having no family to speak of, Magnus wasn't particularly sold on the idea either. He rolled out of bed just before lunchtime and tugged on the shirt that Alec had given him before leaving the week previously.

He glanced over at Catarina's bed, and although he expected to find her still sleeping, he instead found that she was watching him with a small smile.

"You're disgusting," she told him jokingly. "But I have to admit that Alec seems to be alright – better than the blokes any of us have been with before anyway."

"That's not a very high bar," Magnus pointed out.

"Do you remember in fifth year when I went out with that creepy guy with the lisp?"

"The one who slobbered all over you when you kissed," Magnus said, nodding gravely. "Gross."

"There's a festive image for you," Catarina said, laughing. "What time is it?"

"Almost noon."

"Urgh," she replied, throwing the covers down from around her. "Does that mean I have to get dressed?"

"It might be an idea."

She reluctantly stood up and, after sniffing a jumper experimentally, pulled it on. "I'm keeping the sweatpants," she said, gesturing to her pajama bottoms, which were decorated with bunnies. "Who needs pants on Christmas?"

"Not you?" Magnus suggested.

"Exactly."

She pulled something out of the bottom of her wardrobe and came to sit on the bed beside Magnus, "here," she said, handing him a present.

"You never get me presents!" Magnus said, gaping at her. "I didn't get you anything."

"Good," Catarina shrugged, "Christmas is a dumb holiday that Christian's stole from the Pagan's and made meaningless. Besides, it's from me and Ragnor – as in I thought of it because he's useless and he payed."

"Well, thank you." Magnus grinned. He took it from her and ripped the paper off eagerly. Inside was a cardboard box and when Magnus inspected it, he discovered that the gift was a cocktail set – complete with glasses, mixers and a cocktail shaker.

"You're always complaining about making cocktails in shitty glasses," Catarina said pointedly.

"This is great," Magnus smiled, hugging her. "Is it a bit too early to make some now?"

"Maybe just a tad, but after dinner I expect you to get us thoroughly drunk. I stocked up on booze too."

"Of course," Magnus agreed. "What's Christmas without a few too many drinks?"

* * *

 

Alec had had three glasses of wine.

He was sat at the dinning table, Christmas dinner laid out in front of him. Isabelle was wafting around the hotel tickets she'd got from their parents – the promised trip to New York for them and their friends to see Jace play quidditch. Jace himself was busy piling his plate high with turkey, vegetables and three different kinds of potatoes, while Max watched impatiently, wanting to steal the cranberry sauce from out of his clutches.

Their parents were at the far end of the table, chatting surprisingly amicably and holding out their glasses so that the house elf could pour them more wine. Alec had never thought about it much before, but he was suddenly struck with the desire to ask the old elf how she was doing – clearly he'd been spending too much time with Magnus.

"Are you sure it's a good idea for Max to go to New York?" Maryse asked her daughter – Izzy had told their parents that should be taking her brothers and two friends – Catarina and Magnus – on the trip with them. "It's only a few days after his... time of the month."

"Please don't call it that," Izzy said screwing up her face, "he'll be fine."

"I will," Max insisted. "It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" Their mother repeated, "Max..."

"It's not," Alec found himself saying. The wine had lessened his inhibitions somewhat, and he found that his frustration at his parents comments was a little harder to ignore than usual. "He's been getting on just fine at Hogwarts." Alec told them. "You just haven't been there to notice."

Izzy looked at him with wide eyes, impressed by his sudden boldness.

"Alec," Maryse said, shocked. "You know it's not that we don't want to be there..." She cleared her throat, looking down at her plate awkwardly. "But if you all think it's a good idea then that's fine."

"Who are these friends you want to take with you?" Robert asked Isabelle in an attempt to clear the air. "I hope they appreciate our generosity."

"They will," Izzy replied, rolling her eyes at her father. "Catarina and I play quidditch together, and Magnus is a friend."

"Just a friend?" Robert enquired.

"Yes."

Alec took another sip of wine, watching the exchange with growing annoyance. It did nothing to alleviate his frustration from his mother's comments about Max.

"You're a beautiful girl Isabelle," their mother told her. "Are you sure this boy isn't interested in you? I'm not so sure about you sharing a room with a boy..."

"And three other people," Isabelle reminded them irritably. "It's nothing like that."

"I know what boys are like," Robert told her, nodding wisely. "First it's an innocent trip with friends and then he tries to get you alone."

"Oh my god," Alec muttered, a little too loudly.

Everyone turned to look at him – his parents confused and Isabelle considering him apologetically.

"Magnus isn't going to try anything with Izzy," he said, annoyed. "Trust me."

"I'm only trying to protect your sister," Robert said, shaking his head at his son. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable Alec – it's perfectly natural to have urges around young women."

"Robert, is that really conversation for around the dinner table?" Maryse asked sternly. "I'm sure Alec is a perfect gentleman when it comes to the ladies."

"I'm gay," Alec said loudly, dropping his knife and fork, which clattered against the table. "You know I'm gay." He rarely got angry in the manner that Izzy was prone to, but he was tired - tired of being ignored, tired of having to go along with the ludicrous dialogue that his parents created around his sexuality.

They were only staring at him more now, and even Jace put down his cutlery to watch the interaction, his eyes full of concern.

"Alexander," Robert huffed, "we've talked about this – you're too young to know whether-"

"But Izzy and Jace are old enough to know they're straight?" Alec interrupted. "Magnus isn't Izzy's boyfriend – he's mine."

"He's what?"

"You heard me," Alec said, folding his arms defiantly. "I'm gay – Max is a werewolf – Izzy is – well, we're not perfect."

His parents just looked at him, and Alec stared right back – his heart was pounding but there it was – the truth. He wasn't going to back down now and let them continue to ignore it.

"Well?" Alec prompted. "Yell at me if you want – I don't care anymore."

"We're not going to do that," Robert told him, though it seemed to be a struggle. "You're our son."

His mother's hands were curled into fists around the tablecloth.

"Um," Jace said awkwardly. "I'm really glad you're all coming to see me play."

"Shut up, Jace," Izzy snapped.

Alec watched as his mother let out a long breath, seemingly bracing herself for what she was about to say. "If that's how it's going to be," she said carefully, "then I look forward to meeting him."

The words were obviously strained, but Alec appreciated them none the less. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Good," he said.

The tension around the table was palatable, but as Alec picked up his knife and fork again, Max started chatting animatedly about the fact that one of his friends had exploded a cauldron in potions class the week before term ended. Jace laughed along with the story, and immediately launched into another about how he'd fallen in one of his early quidditch games, landing in the stands, where several people had tried to run off with his broom.

Alec watched them, and felt some of his anxiety wash away.

He was right when he said that they weren't perfect – but he felt a swell of affection for them none the less.

As they listened to Jace talk, Izzy learnt across the table towards him, putting a hand on his knee. "Well done," she whispered, smiling at him. "But you'd better warn Magnus about the parental interrogation he's going to get before we go to New York."

"Oh god," Alec muttered, pushing his hair back out of his face. "Poor Magnus."


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I am English and have never been to New York so there may be some inaccuracy in this chapter :p

"Will you stand still?"

"I actually physically can't."

Magnus and Catarina had apparated to the Lightwood's house in the South of England and Magnus was shuffling uncomfortably from foot to foot. Even the outside of their house looked grand – with iron gates and intimidating manicured lawns. He felt completely out of his depth.

"Does my hair look alright?"

"It's fine."

"And you don't think this shirt is weird?" He asked for what much have been the fourth time.

"It's literally a plain black shirt, Magnus."

"I know," he complained. "What are we doing? These are the Lightwoods."

"You're putting your morals on the line for a cute boy, and I'm doing it for quidditch tickets," Catarina said reasonably.

She reached out and knocked on the door.

Magnus adjusted the collar of his shirt.

The door was quickly answered by a small house elf dressed in a flowery tea-towel, and Magnus was instantly uncomfortable.

However, a moment later Alec appeared in the doorway.

"Thanks Effie" he said, smiling at the elf. "I've got it."

She scurried away, and Magnus' unease settled somewhat when he looked at his boyfriend. He was wearing a dark blue jumper that made his eyes seem even bluer, and his cheeks were flushed.

"Hi," Magnus said, grinning at him.

"Hi."

Catarina stared between them. "Gross," she muttered, before pushing past Alec into the house, "Where's your sister?"

Alec was spared having to answer by Isabelle's answering call as she came down the stairs and spotted Catarina.

"You look nice," Magnus said, still standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"I missed you," Alec replied. He stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Magnus' neck and hugging him.

They were interrupted by Izzy forcibly pulling her brother away from Magnus, and hugging him herself.

"Come in!" She ordered, pulling his small suitcase into the hallway. "How have you guys been?" She asked, not giving them time to answer before she ploughed ahead - "we should be okay to leave pretty soon – mom and dad went to pick up the portkey and Max is just finishing packing."

"I thought we weren't leaving until tonight," Magnus said, secretly pleased that he wouldn't have to be in the presence of Alec and Isabelle's parents for very long.

"Jace convinced mom that it would be better to leave now because of the time difference, so it'll still be morning in America when we get there. I think he was just trying to save us the embarrassment of forcing you both to sit down with our parents."

"Jace is growing on me by the minute," Magnus grinned. He glanced around the wide corridor, which had wood-paneled walls and a number of expensive looking portraits. "Where is he?"

"He went home a few days ago," Alec told him. "To spend New Years day with his girlfriends family."

"How sweet," Catarina replied, not entirely seriously.

"But enough about him," Izzy said, "come into the kitchen – there's some left over sangria if you want it."

"You know me Isabelle," Magnus smirked as he, Catarina and Alec followed her through a high-ceilinged dining room into the equally impressive kitchen. "I never say no to a drink."

"You two are weirdly similar," Alec commented, watching as Izzy filled four glasses with the deep red liquid.

"Cheers!" She grinned, raising her glass.

Magnus clinked the edge of his glass with his friends, smiling despite his nerves about the imminent return of Maryse and Robert. They were only staying in New York for two nights before they had to return to Hogwarts, but Magnus had never been to America before, and the opportunity to explore somewhere new with Alec filled him with excitement.

"Can I have some of that?" The words came from Max, who'd appeared in the doorway with his rucksack. "Dad let me the other day."

"No he didn't," Alec said, shaking his head at his little brother. "You can have juice."

"You're no fun," Max complained. He sat down on one of the chairs at the kitchen island, across from the rest of them. "Hi Magnus."

"Hey buddy," Magnus grinned back. "How are you doing?"

"Still a werewolf but otherwise can't complain."

"Good to know."

They continued to chat for a while, until they heard the front door open and voices in the hallway.

Magnus almost choked on his sangria, before he hastily put down his glass. He ran his hands through his hair, attempting to shuffle it into a neat shape.

Catarina side eyed him.

"Ah," Maryse sighed as she came into the room. "I see you're serving our under-aged guests alcohol." She looked between Alec and Isabelle with raised eyebrows.

"We didn't give any to Max," Izzy shrugged.

Maryse turned away from her daughter to take off her coat, looking strained.

"Well," Robert said, stepping forward. "Are you going to introduce us to your friends?"

Maryse watched them carefully, mirroring her husbands position of the other side of the kitchen counters.

"This is Catarina," Isabelle said, gesturing unnecessarily to the girl beside her. "And that's Magnus," she added, when Alec failed to introduce his boyfriend.

"Catarina, I hear you play quidditch," Robert said, regarding her pleasantly enough.

"I'm a beater," Catarina confirmed, "I'm really looking forward to seeing the match on Saturday." She smiled a winning smile, which was apparently enough to win Robert over.

"Excellent," he said, nodding at her approvingly.

Magnus glared at his friend – her ability to apparently say exactly the right thing to Alec's father didn't exactly instill him with confidence.

"I can't say we've heard much at all about what you're interested in Magnus," Maryse put in. She and her husband both turned to him, and he felt like they were staring directly into his soul.

"Erm," Magnus said, looking at them like a deer caught in headlights. He had interests. He definitely had interests, Magnus told himself firmly. He just couldn't think of any. "I..."

"He's a prefect," Alec said, trying to be helpful.

"That's not really an interest," Magnus told him.

"It totally is," Izzy argued. "Magnus is very academic."

Magnus himself felt that this was stretching the truth quite a bit, but he wasn't about to argue with it.

"I guess," he agreed reluctantly. The only other interest he could think of were his excellent cocktail making skills, which possibly wouldn't go down so well. "I can also play the charango," he said on a whim.

Everyone looked at him oddly. "It's a South American instrument." He explained, poignantly neglecting to mention the fact that he'd only leant it in a failed attempt to impress a Peruvian boy a few years ago.

"I see," Maryse said, nodding in a distant sort of way. "And what do your parents do?"

Magnus felt Alec tense beside him.

"They're not around," he said vaguely, hoping to avoid that line of questioning.

"Hmm," Maryse mused. "That explains a lot."

"Mom!" Alec hissed. "You can't -"

"I don't mean anything by it!" Maryse said innocently, her eyes scanning the four of them. "Well, I hope you take good care of Max while you're gone. And Alexander, remember what I said about sharing bed a bed with your sister – I don't think it's appropriate for you and your – friend – to do so."

"Oh my god," Alec moaned, but Magnus interrupted him.

"That's fine," he said hurriedly, despite his building disdain for his boyfriends parents. "Catarina and I have slept together loads of times."

"No!" Catarina hissed, and it was only then that Magnus realised what he'd said, along with the appalled looks on Robert and Maryse's faces.

"No," Magnus repeated. "I didn't mean – I mean we're friends – we've had sleepovers. Completely platonic, friendly, sleepovers."

If Magnus had wanted the ground to swallow him up before, it was nothing compared to what he felt now.

"Anyway," Isabelle said, putting herself physically in front of Magnus.

He wished she was taller, so that he could reasonably hide behind her. Despite getting Alec's parents to like him not being especially high on his list of priorities, he also hadn't meant to make such a fool of himself.

"Is the portkey ready?" Izzy asked. "We should get going."

"It's on the dinning table," Robert told her. He turned around as the words left his mouth, walking to the doorway. "Have a good time," he said.

Maryse followed him, nodding awkwardly at all of them. Her gaze lingered for a fraction of a second on Magnus. "Be careful," she added, before following her husband out of the room.

As soon as they were gone, Magnus let out a breath, leaning forward onto the kitchen counter and burying his head in his hands.

"Well that went well," he said sarcastically. "Why do these things happen to me?"

Izzy, Catarina and Max slinked away, gathering up everyone's bags from by the front door, but Alec remained by Magnus' side.

"It wasn't that bad," he said weakly, placing a comforting hand on Magnus' back. "I should have told them about your parents, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Magnus shrugged, standing back up. "I just - I wanted them to like me."

"Why?"

Magnus glanced up at him, and saw genuine confusion in his eyes.

"Because they're important to you," Magnus said simply. "And you're important to me."

"Oh."

Alec's smile was small and shy; suddenly, Magnus felt a lot better.

"Come on you two," Izzy called from the next room, breaking the moment.

The portkey turned out to be an old, dismantled car steering wheel. Magnus didn't know why the Ministry couldn't just use one set object for portkeys – something small and inconspicuous to muggles, like umbrellas, or newspapers. But no. Apparently, the Department of Magical Transportation thought that lone steering wheels were perfectly ordinary.

Even so, Magnus was happy to take hold of the wheel with his friends, closing his eyes as he felt himself being tugged forwards.

* * *

 

When Alec opened his eyes he was in New York. Although they'd appeared in a particularly none-descript alleyway he recognised the city immediately – the bite of the winter weather – the buzz of nearby traffic. It felt like home.

They stepped out onto the main street, but Isabelle pulled Alec back, "I assume you actually would rather share a bed with Magnus?" She whispered.

"Um," Alec said, he hadn't really given it that much consideration, and the thought of sharing a bed with Magnus filled him with, not entirely unpleasant, nerves. "Yeah. I think so."

Izzy nodded decidedly and they rejoined the others.

"That's the hotel," she said, pointing to a grand, whitewashed building across the street from them.

"I thought that was the White House," Magnus said, staring wide-eyed at the sights all around him. "It's huge."

"He's being dramatic," Catarina said, although she looked equally impressed. "He knows the White House isn't in New York."

They dragged their bags across the street and into the foyer of the hotel, where Isabelle gave their details and they were directed to a room on the fifth floor.

After piling into the lift they finally emerged onto the right floor, finding their room number directly opposite them.

"Woah," Magnus said as soon as they set foot in the room. He stared around in shock before turning to Alec. "This is literally a house."

The room was extremely impressive. In front of them was a lounge area with two leather sofa's facing one another, and a flat-screen TV on the wall. Beyond that was the first of three bedrooms. Two of them housed double beds, while the third, much smaller room, boasted a set of bunk beds.

Each double bedroom had a set of ornate double doors, and in between them was a pristine jack-and-Jill bathroom.

"I thought they were getting us something a little more casual," Alec agreed, turning to his sister.

"You know what mom and dad are like," she shrugged. "They probably think this is down market."

She kicked her shoes off and levitated her bags into one of the double bedrooms. "Catarina – are you alright sharing with me, or do you want a bunk bed?"

"As tempting as that is, I think we'll manage together."

"That means I get the top bunk," Max grinned, and ran off to put his things in the bedroom.

"I guess that means this one's ours," Magnus said, gesturing to the bedroom to their left.

Nodding, Alec followed him into it and the two of them put their suitcases down on the bed, digging around for anything important that they'd need for the day.

"Are you sure you're alright with this?" Magnus asked, "I really can share with Catarina if you want."

"No," Alec said. "It's just... kind of nerve wracking."

Magnus smiled. "A couple of months ago I wouldn't have thought we'd end up here."

"Definitely not," Alec laughed. "Remember when you knocked me unconscious?"

"That was an accident!"

"I'm still not so sure," Alec teased.

A moment later Izzy barged into the room – she'd already changed into a quidditch top, despite the game not being until the following evening.

"What are you guys going to do today?" She asked. "Catarina wants to see Central Park, and I was thinking of taking Max to Coney Island – you know he loves it there."

"I wanted to show Magnus the statue of liberty," Alec said, "if you want?" He asked Magnus.

"Sure!"

"Okay then," Izzy shrugged. "Well we can always split up and meet back here later for dinner?"

"Sounds good."

"Great," Izzy said, grinning at them. "We'll get out of your hair then. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

She disappeared around the door frame, leaving Magnus and Alec in an awkward silence.

"She doesn't mean -"

"I know, and I don't expect you to -"

"I know."

"Okay, good." Magnus laughed. "Come on then, why don't you show me the sights?"

* * *

 

They got the ferry to Ellis Island with a group of tourists, and Magnus enjoyed staring out across the New York cityscape as he and Alec sat side by side on the boat, holding hands.

Surprisingly, Alec seemed to have even less inhibitions here than he did at school, and when Magnus asked why he simply shrugged and said "it's New York" in a nonchalant manner than Magnus didn't quite understand.

Their first stop on Ellis Island was the Immigration Museum, which Magnus found fascinating. The building itself was built from red and white brick, framed by two spires on either side, and the entrance hall reminded Magnus of the Great Hall at Hogwarts, except here the floors were made of marble and American flags hung from the balconies overhead.

"I was born in Indonesia," Magnus told his boyfriend as they read the story of an Indonesian family who had made the journey to the US many years before. "I don't really remember it though – I was too young."

"We should go back one day," Alec said, squeezing his hand.

"We?"

"Yeah," Alec shrugged, "if you like."

Magnus looked at him, exuding honestly, and was struck by how much he had grown to care about him. At times Alec could be so closed off that Magnus felt as though they barely knew each other at all, but in moments like this, he was light and hopeful, making Magnus feel as though there was nothing they couldn't do together, as though the sun was shining inside him.

"I'd like that a lot."

* * *

 

They spent a good few hours wandering around the museum, and by the time they emerged it was almost lunch time. Magnus felt particularly hungry, given that back in England it would be late afternoon, and he hadn't eaten since breakfast.

They decided to get something to eat before leaving the museum, and sat huddled together in the winter sunshine, eating hotdogs from the café and drinking coffee to try and keep their hands warm.

The statue of liberty loomed over them from the other side of the island, and Magnus watched the hundreds of people flock around it with a small smile.

"It's pretty impressive," he told Alec. "I guess America isn't all bad."

Alec smiled. "Not all the time," he agreed.

The statue turned out to be much bigger up close than Magnus had expected, and he and Alec took several pictures of themselves with it, along with the rest of the island, paying particular attention to

their attempt to photograph one another in a position that made it seem as though they were wearing the statue's crown.

By the end of the ferry ride back to the main land, the sun was beginning to set.

"We're not meeting the others for another couple of hours," Alec said, glancing at his watch. "What do you want to do until then?"

"We could just wander around?" Magnus suggested. Despite the cold he was enjoying watching the glittering lights as New York came to life for the evening.

"Okay," Alec agreed.

They walked in what Magnus could only guess was a random direction, gloved hands clasped together. Now and then Alec would point something out, telling Magnus what it was, or reminiscing about something that had happened to him there. Magnus enjoyed listening to him, imagining what Alec had been like before they'd met.

Eventually, they came to a bridge that Magnus thought was longer than, though not dissimilar to Tower Bridge in London. Pedestrians had to walk along a pathway overhanging the road, so when Magnus looked to one side, he could see the gleam of cars speeding past, and on the other the East River stretching into the distance.

"This is Brooklyn Bridge," Alec told him, "It connects Brooklyn to Manhattan."

"It's great," Magnus smiled, glancing up at the lights that ran along the top of the bridge. "What are these?" He asked, noticing a collection of metal fastened to the side of the bridge.

He let go of Alec in order to inspect them. "Padlocks?"

Alec followed him, "love locks," he said, kneeling down so that he could pick one out. "Look – couples write their names on them, lock them up and throw away the key."

When Magnus didn't reply, Alec added, "they think it means their love's going to last forever or something; it's kind of stupid."

"I think it's romantic," Magnus beamed. "The things that muggles come up with." Pulling Alec up, he put one arm around his waist and said, "do you want to do one?"

"Seriously?" Alec asked, leaning back from him so that he could actually see Magnus' face. "We've not been dating for very long," he said uncertainly.

"So what?" Magnus shrugged. "It's cute."

"We don't have a padlock."

Magnus reached into his coat pocket to retrieve his wand. He muttered a spell under his breath, and just like that a padlock appeared in his hand.

"Do you want to do the honours?" He asked, handing it to Alec, who was grinning at him, the wind whipping his hair around his face.

Taking the padlock from Magnus, Alec retrieved his own wand and pointed it at the metal. Concentrating, he guided his wand so that his and Magnus' names appeared, engraved, on the padlock.

He handed it back to his boyfriend.

"I guess this means you're stuck with me now," Magnus said, bending down to secure the lock to the bridge.

"I guess so," Alec agreed. He watched as Magnus pointed his wand at the key, vanishing it with a muttered spell. "I think I can live with that."

* * *

 

That night, Alec barely had time to worry about sharing a bed with Magnus. They were both so tired that as soon as they got back from dinner with Izzy, Catarina and Max, they got into bed and were asleep within a few minutes.

The next morning however, Alec woke up to find that sometime in the night he and Magnus had gravitated towards one another, so that now Magnus' arm was leaning heaving against his hip, and their legs were tangled together.

Alec immediately felt his pulse quicken. Magnus' eyes were still closed, but the smile on his face indicated that he wasn't sleeping, so when Alec whispered his name, his eyes fluttered open.

"Morning," he said quietly.

Alec could feel his breath against his cheek.

"Hi."

"Did you sleep okay?"

Alec nodded, perplexed by the fact that Magnus could be so calm when their whole bodies were touching.

"Are you okay?" Magnus asked, sensing his uncertainty. "Is this okay?"

"Yeah," Alec assured him, "you just seem – have you slept with people before?" The question slipped out before Alec could stop himself, and he instantly felt embarrassed.

"I assume you mean sex," Magnus asked.

Alec had buried his head into his pillow, but Magnus reached out and gently cupped the side of his face until Alec looked at him again.

He nodded.

"Yes, I slept with an ex girlfriend before. I've done things with a couple of other people, but it was nothing serious."

When Alec merely looked at him, Magnus asked, "does that bother you?"

"No," he said immediately, "It's just that this is all new to me."

"I know," Magnus said gently. "That's okay."

Alec smiled. Magnus' words relaxing him somewhat, so when he leant forwards to kiss his boyfriend, he felt a warm sense of pleasure wash over him.

Magnus let him deepen the kiss, and leant into his touch when Alec built up the courage to let his hands wander under the hem of Magnus' shirt.

They stayed that way, completely unaware of anything else around them as Alec allowed himself to get lost to the feelings of Magnus' body against his own. Somewhere in the back of his mind was a ripple of uncertainty, a voice that sounded suspiciously like his mothers telling him that he was doing something wrong - but it didn't feel that way at all. He didn't want to stop kissing Magnus, didn't want to stop hearing the small gasps of breath he took when they were so close together, didn't want to stop at all.

It was some time before they headed down to breakfast.

* * *

 

Their second day in New York passed by in a blur. The five of them took to looking around Times Square in the morning, and there was so much to see that soon enough it was time to head to Jaces' quidditch match.

They were seated in a special box reserved for family and friends, and as soon as the match started Max clambered onto the top of his seat excitedly, jumping up and down when Jaces' team scored the first goal of the game.

Watching Izzy and Catarina, Magnus could tell that they were tempted to stand on their seats too.

He and Alec were, like sensible people, sitting to the left of the box, watching as the players flew up and down the pitch. Quidditch wasn't exactly Magnus' favourite thing in the world, but it was interesting to watch a professional match – the pace was much faster than the games he was used to commentating on at school, and the players seemed a lot more aggressive towards one another – particularly the beaters, who at one point took to swinging their bats directly at the other players rather than the bludgers.

Jace was a chaser, and once he'd been pointed out to Magnus he was easy enough to follow due to his bright blond hair which stood out amongst the other men. He was good, Magnus realised – one of the best on the team in fact.

The match wasn't a long one – the chasers on Jaces' team were clearly the better flyers, and it was only fourty minutes into the game when the seekers sped through the crowd, chasing the fluttering golden snitch.

Their teams seeker caught it almost directly in front of their box, and everyone burst into thunderous applause, chanting for the winning team.

Magnus celebrated along with them, enjoying getting swept up in the celebrations as the team did a lap of the stadium; showing off in front of their fans.

Once it was over, he, Alec, Isabelle, Catarina and Max were led to a private bar, where they were told the quidditch team would be meeting guests shortly.

They waited awkwardly, stood around a tall table until a few minutes later, Jace emerged from the hallway, hair plastered to his face but robes at least exchanged for more casual clothes.

"Hey guys!" He beamed, heading over to them and embracing his siblings. "Did you enjoy the match?"

"You were awesome!" Max told him enthusiastically.

"Congratulations," Izzy added, grinning at him. "This is Catarina," she said, introducing her friend. "She's a beater."

"Are you interested in playing professionally?" Jace asked, but Catarina just laughed at him.

"Nah," she said. "I'm going to be a healer, I'll leave all that to you guys."

Jace shrugged, smiling at the girl. Then his glaze flickered to Magnus, looking him up and down before he held out a hand and said, "you must be Magnus."

"That's me," Magnus said, shaking his hand.

"I've heard a lot about you," Jace told him. "Why don't you come and help me get some drinks while the others go and sit down."

"Jace," Alec said reluctantly, but Magnus hushed him.

"It's okay," he said. Maybe he hadn't been very good at dealing with his parents, but Magnus was fairly confident in his ability to at least win over his brother.

He followed Jace to the bar, where he ordered several drinks – both alcoholic and none – along with food for all of them.

"So," he said conversationally as they waited. "You and Alec have been dating for a few months now."

"That's right," Magnus said.

Jace turned to him, an intense look on his face that Magnus thought made him look constipated. "He can be quite sensitive, my brother." Jace informed him. "I hope you're not going to hurt him."

Magnus wasn't sure whether or not he was being threatened. The thought was mildly amusing.

"I hope not too," Magnus shrugged.

Jace only looked at him questioningly, and Magnus sighed heavily, leaning against the bar.

"Look," he said. "Alec is... not like anyone I've ever known before. And I mean that in a good way. I know we haven't been seeing each other for long but, well. I met your terrifying parents. Surely that's got to count for something."

"Do you love him?" Jace asked abruptly.

Magnus stared at him, considering the question. He found that he didn't have to think about it for long. "Yes," he said firmly. "I do."

Jace nodded, even offering him a reluctant smile. "Then we'll be alright."

* * *

 

They spent so long in the bar with Jace, laughing, drinking and eating together that by the time they made it back to the hotel it was gone midnight.

Considering their plan to take a portkey to platform nine and three quarters just before 6am the next morning in order to get their in time for the train, they all instantly regretted their lateness as soon as they got back to the hotel.

"Go to bed Max," Izzy ordered immediately, throwing her bag down onto the sofa. "Oh god, we have to be up so soon."

"Where do you think I'm going," Max complained, kicking off his shoes as he stalked to his bedroom. "You're all terrible. I'm going to tell mom and dad you kept me up late."

"You seemed to be enjoying yourself perfectly well half an hour ago," Izzy shouted after him.

"He's only joking," Alec told her.

"He'd better be," Izzy said. "Anyway, I'm going to bed too. I'll set an alarm for five. Why did we think this was a good idea again?"

She and Catarina went to their room and Alec and Magnus did the same, quickly changing into their pajamas.

"At least we don't actually have classes tomorrow," Magnus said as he shoved his clothes into his suitcase in preparation for their departure.

"True," Alec agreed, doing the same. "And you seemed to get on with Jace fairly well," he smiled. "What did he ask you at the bar?"

"What my intentions are with his poor, innocent brother of course," Magnus smirked. "And he asked me if I'm in love you."

Alec froze, a pair of dirty socks in one hand.

"What did you say?"

"I said yes," Magnus shrugged. "I know it's kind of soon, and I don't want to freak you out but -" He paused. "You're looking at me like I just grew another head, Alexander."

"I love you too."

Magnus blinked at him, realising that the expression on his face wasn't because he was uncertain, or afraid of what Magnus had said to him, but that he was simply surprised he felt that way at all.

"You do?"

"Like you said yesterday," Alec said, looking at Magnus like he was the only thing in the world that mattered to him; a look that made Magnus' forgot how to breath, just a little bit. "I'm stuck with you now."


End file.
